Passengers terrified by ’intoxicated and out-of-control’ flight crew

Passengers had been expecting a relaxed, uneventful transatlantic flight, but what they got was several hours ‘terrified at the hands of an intoxicated and out-of-control flight crew’, reports Conall Ó Fátharta.

PASSENGERS boarding an Aer Lingus transatlantic flight in August 2012 were expecting a relaxed, uneventful journey.

However, what transpired was a remarkable set of events which left passengers feeling threatened — not by other passengers but by “an intoxicated and out-of-control flight crew”.

Such was the seriousness of the incident, a number of passengers reported the two flight attendants to the airport police on landing, as well as to the Federal Aviation Authority.

The complaints by passengers were also backed up by another, female Aer Lingus flight attendant who, horrified by the behaviour of her colleagues, also wrote to her superiors in Aer Lingus and gave a lengthy account of the incident.

A complaint to the FAA by husband and wife Matthew Jacobs and Bethany Grabiec, who were on board the flight, and which has been seen by the Irish Examiner, recounted how passengers spent several hours “terrified at the hands of an intoxicated and out-of-control flight crew”.

According to the complaint, following an incident where hot tea was spilled on Ms Grabiec, Mr Jacobs asked to speak to the purser, or flight attendant.

“The purser, Mr X, who had bloodshot eyes and appeared to be quite intoxicated, was abusive, threatening and angry,” stated Mr Jacobs’ complaint to the FAA. “He used profane language and caused my wife and other passengers to cry, and made several nearby passengers very frightened. When another passenger tapped Mr X on the arm to tell him he was out of line, the purser threatened to have the other passenger and several of us arrested.”

This account was confirmed by the female flight attendant’s report for Aer Lingus, which stated: “X then said: ‘You are going to jail.’ He charged through mid-cabin shouting loudly that the man was going to jail.”

Mr Jacobs’ complaint states that the pilot was then told “a riot” was occurring in the cabin, despite passengers being “calm, albeit terrified”. The pilot then told passengers he was considering diverting the flight due to the disturbances.

Following this, Mr Jacobs claimed, another flight attendant threatened him to keep quiet about the incident unless he wanted to be arrested when the aircraft landed in Washington.

“About half an hour later, Mr Y summoned me to one of the galleys, where he and I were alone,” Mr Jacobs told the FAA. “He smelled strongly of whiskey. He told me that as long as I promised to keep quiet and not let the matter go beyond the flight, my wife and I would not be arrested upon arrival. He then told me that the passenger who had tapped Mr X on the arm would be arrested upon arrival for assaulting a flight attendant.”

This version of events was also confirmed by the female flight attendant, who also reported Mr Y telling passengers that the law was on the side of staff.

“When I returned to my cart, I could see that Y was still in mid-cabin and talking to all the surrounding passengers, telling them that ‘the law was on the side of the flight attendants after September 11th’, ‘stay out of this, you don’t know the law’ obviously upsetting many of the passengers in this section,” states her report.

This was backed up by another passenger, Custodio Ferreira, who said that, when the reference to 9/11 was made, “everyone on the plane got extremely frightened”.

Asked whether he felt physically intimidated by the purser, Mr Jacobs said “most certainly”.

“I thought Mr X was going to slap the gentleman across the aisle from me, and I certainly thought they were going to put a number of us passengers in restraints,” Mr Jacobs told the FAA. “In the galley, I was not sure what was going to happen to me, but it did not feel safe at all.”

Both Mr Jacobs and Mr Ferreira praised the female flight attendant for her professionalism and bravery.

The Irish Examiner understands that, after all the flight attendants were interviewed by the captain, he forwarded a request to their destination airport that the attendants in question be tested for alcohol and drugs.

However, according to the female flight attendant’s report, this request was found in the office by Mr X himself on the same day.

“That same day, at 4.52pm, I received a phone call from X,” she said. “He was upset. He asked me: ‘What did you put in the report?’ He said: ‘I am here in the office and I can see the paperwork coming through for drug and alcohol testing.’ I told him I did not know what he was talking about.”

Mr Jacobs said he subsequently received a call from a number of officials at the airline who said both attendants had been disciplined and their employment terminated.

THE Irish Examiner understands that both of the attendants at the centre of the incident were permitted to operate subsequent flights on the route before being made redundant once the route was scrapped a number of months later.

A series of questions were put to Aer Lingus on the nature of the investigation into the incident; whether or not the crew were tested for alcohol and drugs upon landing and if they operated the final flight on that route after the incident.

“The incident was the subject of an internal investigation. As policy we do not disclose the outcome of such internal investigations,” said a statement from Aer Lingus.

Efforts were made to contact both attendants at the centre of the complaints. One responded to a request for comment seeking further details on what complaints were made against him. He failed to respond further when these details were supplied.