Sky-high drunk aborts take-off

[NickN]

From Todays Telegraph

Sky-high drunk aborts take-off

By Laurel-Lee Roderick

May 07, 2008 12:00am

A SURLY airline passenger with a blood-alcohol level so high it could have killed him forced a pilot to abort a take-off after getting unruly with the crew.

Cairns fisherman James Carter had a blood-alcohol reading above 0.4 when Australian Federal Police removed him from a QantasLink flight from the north Queensland tourist hotspot to Darwin on Friday night.

A level of 0.4 or above is often fatal.

The Cairns Post reports the 31-year-old, who planned to move to Darwin, had drunk 10 cans of beer after breaking up with his pregnant girlfriend earlier that day.

The unruly passenger boarded flight QF1874 at 9pm but refused to take his seat.

The captain was forced to stop the plane as it taxied down the runway for a scheduled 9.10pm take-off and police were called.

Flight attendants tried in vain to get the troublesome passenger to get off the plane.

He co-operated with police initially but then resumed arguing and swearing.

The flight was delayed nearly 25 minutes by the drama.

Yesterday, Carter pleaded guilty to a federal offence of threatening behaviour on an aircraft.

Commonwealth prosecutor Jane Bentley said Carter's actions "caused alarm to other passengers on the plane and the flight crew".

The offence carries a maximum fine of $5500 and Ms Bentley said the incident was particularly serious because it was on an aircraft, not in the terminal.

Carter was convicted and fined $750.

"I'm very apologetic, very embarrassed," he said outside court.

Magistrate Trevor Black said it was a horrendous reading and translated into "completely abhorrent and foolish behaviour".

He said passengers were inconvenienced and could have missed connecting flights.