A disruptive passenger who caused an aircraft full of holidaymakers to be diverted after she tried to force open the plane doors mid-flight has today been sentenced to two years' imprisonment.
Chloe Haines, 26, had to be restrained and assaulted cabin crew after boarding a Stansted flight to Turkey in June last year. Haines’ actions meant the crew were forced to divert back to Stansted under the escort of scrambled RAF fighter jets. The resulting emergency action of the military planes caused a large sonic boom which disturbed communities around Essex.
Simon Bravery, from the CPS, said: “Ms Haines’ reckless actions endangered the safety of passengers and crew and caused great distress to everyone on the plane.
“She incurred great expense and inconvenience to the plane operator and to people looking to enjoy their summer holidays, as well as forcing the RAF to scramble fighter jets to the aircraft.
“Her sentence should act as a serious deterrent to others who seek to cause chaos on a plane mid-flight.”
