Passenger due in court over air-rage

A man will appear in court today charged in connection with an alleged air-rage incident on board a Shannon-bound transatlantic flight on Saturday.

The 41-year-old US national, who is understood to have been flying first class, was travelling with friends on a United Airlines flight from Newark in New Jersey to Shannon at the time.

At around 6.20am, about an hour before flight UA-024 was due to land at Shannon, the crew made contact with air traffic controllers to report that they had a “disruptive” passenger on board.

The pilot told controllers that cabin crew members had taken control of the situation by overpowering the man.

The man was reported to be intoxicated and abusive to crew members, and had to be restrained for the remainder of the flight. There were no reports of anyone being assaulted or of any damage caused onboard.

The flight landed at Shannon at 7.22am and was met by airport police and Garda personnel. The man was arrested and removed from the plane before being taken to Shannon Garda Station for questioning.

Gardaí interviewed the captain, crew members, and a number of passengers who were in first class.

The man was detained and questioned for alleged offences under the Air Navigation and Transport Act and is expected to face charges of being intoxicated on board a flight and with engaging in abusive and threatening behaviour.

The man was released on station bail later in the day and is due to appear before Ennis District Court today.

The man is understood to be a designer from Houston in Texas and was travelling to Ireland for a week’s holidays with friends.

The group was due to play golf in Killarney over the weekend before moving on to Dublin. They are set to fly back to the US from Belfast on Saturday.