A 26-year-old woman has been jailed for two years after trying to open the door of a passenger plane in mid-air.
Chloe Haines was found guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court on Wednesday of endangering the safety of an aircraft and assaulting a member of cabin crew.
The air-rage incident occurred on board a Jet2 flight last June, which was flying to Dalaman in Turkey.
The aircraft was forced to return to the UK when Haines tried to open the door, forcing the RAF to scramble two Eurofighter Typhoon jets to intercept it.
Cabin crew member Charley Coombes suffered scratches as she fought to prevent Haines, who was yelling “I’m going to kill you all”, from opening the door.
Haines, who had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing, later said that she “blacked out and didn’t really remember what happened” after mixing alcohol with medication, said prosecutor Michael Crimp.
In his sentencing, Judge Charles Gratwicke said: “Those that are trapped in the confined space of the aircraft will inevitably be distressed, frightened and petrified by the actions of those who in a drunken state endanger their lives.
“For some it will be their worst nightmare come true.”
Jet2 claimed that the incident cost them £86,000.
Between 2007 and 2017, more than 66,000 incidents of air rage were reported to the International Air Transport Association (Iata).
Additional reporting by agencies
