Off-duty pilot threatens to down aircraft with missile

Drunk man abuses crew on Madrid-Dubai flight

Afemale cabin crew member recounted in the Dubai Court of First Instance on Wednesday how an off-duty pilot got drunk and threatened to have the aircraft downed by an Iraqi missile.

The Emirati suspect is on trial on charges of drinking, threatening to blow up an Emirates aircraft, assaulting a stewardess, wrecking parts of the plane, gesturing indecently and behaving badly.

“The plane took off from Madrid and was bound for Dubai. The suspect had taken four cans of beer without permission. When we were cruising above Iraq, he shouted out that we were all going to die as he had called his friend in Baghdad and asked him to shoot down the plane with a missile,” the Uzbek woman testified before presiding judge Arafa Mohammad.

Her Romanian cabin supervisor told the court how the suspect got aggressive after being told that he was not allowed to smoke.

“He ran to the aircraft’s galley and took two beers without permission. He was shouting and cursing. He also threatened to kill me and claimed that he would blow up the plane as he was carrying explosives,” she testified.

The cabin supervisor said a passenger helped her restrain the suspect, who banged his head on his seat’s monitor and broke it.

The suspect remained restrained for five hours and 40 minutes and was handed over to Dubai Police upon landing. The case was adjourned to October 24.