Drunk Brit forced plane detour
A British man headed to his honeymoon on a Cuba-bound flight instead found himself grounded in Bermuda after drunkenly threatening the flight crew, whilst his wife continued to Cuba without him.
Mohammed Khelya, from Blackburn, Lancashire, had been drinking from a bottle of duty-free vodka before quarrelling with his wife on Monday.
He was subsequently taken in handcuffs to the rear of the aircraft and forced its unscheduled landing, prosecutors said.
Appearing on Tuesday at a court in Hamilton, Bermuda’s capital, Khelya pleaded guilty to being drunk on the aircraft and to threatening flight staff.
“I don’t know how I’m going to forgive myself,” he said in court. “I don’t know how she’s going to forgive me.”
The 22-year-old and his wife were among 311 passengers on board a Thomas Cook flight, which set out from Manchester International Airport.
Several hours into the flight, after his wife changed seats to get away from him, Khelya appealed unsuccessfully to a crew member to see her.
“I’m going to kill you and I’m going to kill everyone after,” Khelya told a crew member, using an expletive, according to prosecutors.
Earlier this week, Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo, fined Khelya £1,270 for being drunk on the aircraft and a further amount for his abusive behaviour towards flight staff.
If the guilty part fails to pay the fines, he faces four months in a Bermuda jail.
