Drunk delays holidaymakers' trip to Greece

How would you react if you were flying to Greece for your well-earned annual holiday and your plane had to turn back because of one drunk and obnoxious tourist? Well, this is exactly what happened last Friday to a whole group of Czech tourists flying from Brno to Greece. Beatrice Cady has the story:

Last Friday, the passengers of a (CSA) Czechoslovak Airlines Boeing 737 had to put up with the obnoxious behaviour of a thirty-two-year-old man. The man, who had been drinking prior to boarding the plane, would single-handedly ruin the holiday plans of all the passengers. He had brought his own supply of alcohol, which was obviously not meant to last until the landing in Greece.

Growing more and more drunk, he became increasingly unpleasant to the other passengers and the crew. He was eventually ordered to stop drinking by the stewardesses and even by the captain himself. He paid no heed to the warning and actually decided to light up a cigarette to accompany the drink.

Not wanting to face a long flight with this most unwelcome gentleman, the pilot took the drastic decision of flying back to Brno. There, the man was handed over to the airport police. He could face a fine of 5000 Czech crowns (125 USD), and be banned from travelling on CSA for the rest of his life, CSA press spokesman Daniel Plovajko told journalists.

This is the first time in many years that a CSA aeroplane has had to return an hour after the departure because of one passenger. This will cost Czechoslovak Airlines more than 700,000 crowns, nearly 20,000 dollars. Quite an expensive couple of beers...