A man and woman in Newfoundland have each been fined $4,000 for endangering the safety of an airline flight by refusing to remain in their seats, yelling at passengers and crew and removing some of their clothing.
A court in Corner Brook, N.L., heard that on Aug. 28, 2024, a man and a woman were aboard a Flair Airlines flight headed to Deer Lake, N.L., when the man got out of his seat and refused to follow instructions from the crew.
In a decision dated Sept. 29, provincial court Judge Wayne Gorman said the 56-year-old man was yelling obscenities as he returned to his seat, but refused to attach his seatbelt and then took off his shirt.
He also became loud and threatening during meal service when an item he wanted to buy was unavailable.
As for the woman, the judge’s decision says she also refused to stay in her seat and, at one point, removed all her clothing below her waist and then walked up and down the aisle while yelling at people.
The man pleaded guilty to endangering the safety of an aircraft in flight and interfering with the lawful use of property, and the woman pleaded guilty to the same charges before another judge and was also fined $4,000 at an earlier date.
Gorman said he was compelled by the parity principles in the Criminal Code to impose the same sentence on the man.
Still, Gorman’s ruling says the result was a sentence that “fails to reflect the seriousness of the crimes committed” by the accused.
“In this case, [the man] purposely disrupted the flight and diverted the airline staff from their primary function: the safety of the passengers,” the judge’s decision says.
“These offences are very grave …. The sentences imposed for this type of offence have not reflected this reality.”
The judge went on to say that were it not for the Crown’s request for the same sentence, he would have imposed a period of imprisonment.
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