Off-duty pilot jailed for unruly behaviour

An off-duty pilot has been jailed for a year for getting drunk, cursing passengers and risking their lives, when he threatened to have an aircraft downed by a missile.

Yesterday, the Dubai Court of First Instance jailed the accused for a year, after he pleaded not guilty.

On an Emirates flight from Madrid to Dubai in June 2018, a Romanian stewardess encountered the off-duty Emirati pilot, who was drunk and behaved in an unruly manner. The pilot, 27, who was a passenger on-board, asked the Romanian stewardess if smoking was allowed on the aircraft.

Shortly after being seated, he insulted and assaulted the stewardess and grabbed two beers without the crew’s permission and consumed more liquor.

After crew members restrained him in his seat, the Emirati turned more aggressive and shouted loudly that he would have his Iraqi friend down the plane with a missile over Baghdad.

He also hit his head repeatedly on the TV screen in front of him and destroyed it, and damaged a window before threatening to follow the Romanian to her house and kill her.

The ruling remains subject to appeal.