Librarian fined €400 and freed after air rage offence
Garda Noel O’Rourke told Ennis District Court at one stage, Harald Albrecht, aged 32, made a lunge for a female flight attendant, but did not make contact.
The Austrian Airlines flight en route from Washington to Vienna was forced to divert to Shannon Airport at 7.05am on Saturday arising from the incident and Garda O’Rourke said that Albrecht “had to be forcibly removed from the aircraft”.
Judge John O’Neill said: “This was an incident out of character for Mr Albrecht, but I can’t conceive of a greater danger to people than what Mr Albrecht engaged in on this occasion. It caused a lot of distress to the people on the plane and has brought about a huge cost to the airline.”
Garda O’Rouke said that Albrecht had taken a sleeping tablet along with some wine and became agitated when refused more alcohol by the flight attendants on board. Garda O’Rourke said: “He became abusive towards the flight attendants and passengers’ children moved from the seating around Mr Albrecht.”
Garda O’Rourke said that Albrecht was delusional and intoxicated when gardaí came on board and later when he sobered up, the Austrian “was severely remorseful and embarrassed”.
Albrecht has no previous convictions. The Vienna man was coming from a five-week internship at a New York library where he was studying the Holocaust.
Reading out a written statement to court, Albrecht told Judge O’Neill that he would like to apologise to Austrian Airlines, the cabin crew and the passengers on board. Albrecht said that he took the tablet because he is afraid of flying over the ocean.
Albrecht said: “I feel deeply sorry and ashamed for what I have done.”
He said that he has no memory of the incident “but I accept what the witnesses said . . . I will never take a sleeping tablet again.”
Albrecht was charged with engaging in behaviour of a threatening, abusive or insulting nature with intent to cause a breach of the peace on board the flight and being intoxicated to such an extent as would give rise to a reasonable apprehension that he might endanger himself or other persons on board the aircraft.
Solicitor for Albrecht, Jenny Fitzgibbon, asked that Judge O’Neill apply the Probation Act to the single man and not record a conviction, stating that Albrecht’s career could be jeopardised by a prosecution.
Ms Fitzgibbon said that the incident was very out of character with Albrecht and the cause of the incident was mixing alcohol with the sleeping pill, stating that he realises that it was an act of stupidity as he didn’t get a prescription for it, but got the tablet from a friend.
Judge O’Neill imposed a fine of €400 for the offence and Albrecht walked free from court after paying the fine.
