Airline to sue librarian over air rage incident

THE airline at the centre of an air rage incident which forced a transatlantic jet to divert to Shannon airport is to sue a librarian who caused the disturbance.

The Austrian Airlines service en route from Washington to Vienna with 200 people on board had to divert after a 32-year-old librarian caused a disturbance which resulted in three male passengers having to restrain him.

Harald Albrecht was fined €400 at Ennis District Court this week.

Judge John O’Neill said the incident was out of character for Albrecht. “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,” the judge said.

Yesterday, Austrian Airlines confirmed the airline is going to file a complaint under Austrian law against Albrecht for “endangering air travel safety”.

A spokesman said the costs of diverting “will be a rather high five-digit euro amount”.

The Austrian Airlines spokesman said: “Safety is our primary concern. We do not do any compromise on this, and this is why we decided to land in Shannon because the passenger did not calm down at all.”

Solicitor Jenny Fitzgibbon told the court Austrian Airlines want to make an example of Albrecht.

“There are going to be huge repercussions for him. Austrian Airlines is going to sue him in the civil court for the costs — the passenger costs and the landing costs.

“They want to come down very hard on this type of behaviour which Mr Albrecht understands. He is a law abiding person normally and he has already engaged a lawyer in Austria to deal with this. He is not going to be dodging this in any way.

“Mr Albrecht’s job could be in jeopardy. He is going to go home and have to face the music there.”

Albrecht — who has no previous convictions — has no memory of the incident and blames mixing alcohol with an unprescribed sleeping tablet for his behaviour.