“Deplorable” airline passenger banned for life

Many frequent flyers would have come across someone like Jay Dalziel at one time or other.

Dalziel went ape shit on a recent flight on leisure airline Jet2 and has been banned for life following a "violent" in-flight incident, news portal Travel Mole reports.

Dalziel, 19, from Motherwell in Scotland, acted in a ‘"deplorable and violent" fashion, causing a Glasgow to Tenerife flight to be diverted to Shannon Airport in Ireland.

He was then taken into custody - missing out on his holiday.

Dalziel displayed "disruptive and aggressive" behaviour shortly after take-off.

It escalated to the point of allegedly physically attacking Jet2.com cabin crew other customers.

After touching down at Shannon Airport, Garda officers boarded the flight and took him into custody.

Video published online captured Garda officers removing a topless man from the plane. He was reportedly seen screaming as he was handcuffed and hauled off the flight.

Jet2 immediately banned him for life.

The airline also plans to take action to recover costs incurred by the diversion, estimated at a five-figure sum.

A standby aircraft and crew were then flown to Shannon Airport to take customers to Tenerife.

Jet2 apologised to customers for the inconvenience.

Phil Ward, MD of Jet2, said: “This is one of the worst cases of disruptive passenger behaviour that we have ever witnessed, and we would like to apologise to all colleagues and customers onboard for what they had to experience.

"It is a disgrace that hardworking customers, families and colleagues should be subjected to such appalling behaviour and we will vigorously pursue Mr Dalziel for all the costs that we incurred as a result of this diversion, as well as banning him for life."

Irish police said: ""Gardaí met the aircraft and arrested the man under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997. He is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at a Garda station in County Clare. Investigations are ongoing."

Thais get spicy with aggressive and critical tourists

Thailand is generally seen as a laid-back tourism destination but Thais officials are starting to crack down on bad behaviour and, more controversially, criticism.

On the holiday island of Phuket, the governor and senior police officials will hold a meeting with the consuls of a dozen countries to discuss measures to tackle the rise in crime perpetrated by foreign tourists and expats, Travel Mole reports.

This follows the arrest of a British tourist for the alleged assault of a taxi driver that followed an argument over the taxi fare.

The taxi driver made a police complaint and the tourist, named only as Graham by police, was tracked down on the Phi Phi islands and brought back to Phuket.

He is accused of slapping the driver and grabbing him by the throat. He could potentially face jail time and be deported.

More concerning is the growing trend towards acting against anyone criticising Thailand, particularly online.

Regular readers will remember that las year an American blogger was jailed and forced to apologise for online criticism of a Thai hotel.

And now Tourist Police have warned a British tourist identified as Mr. Thomas, against posting videos criticising the country on social media, citing the potential harm to the nation's image and security, Asean Now reported.

The deputy inspector of Mae Hong Son Tourist Police, Lt. Col. Suwit Boonyaphen, said that Mr. Thomas's videos were critical of Thai public and private agencies.

Mr. Thomas was tracked down at his residence in Pai district where police urged him to understand the potential consequences of his actions. He was ordered to delete all his videos hosted on YouTube and other social media platforms and was taken to the police station to be interviewed.

He was warned that if he continues posting "potentially harmful material about Thailand" online, he could face prosecution under Thai law.

Mr Thomas has now apologized on YouTube.

Our Thai correspondent says visitors should be reminded that defamation is a criminal act in Thailand, and the truth or fair criticism are not absolute defences. So visitors should be very, very careful.

Image: Winsor Dobbin

Passenger from hell guilty of attacking flight attendant

Colin Smith from Hull is not the sort of fellow you want sitting next to you on a plane. Or anywhere near you.

The unruly Smith this week pleaded guilty to attacking a flight attendant on an easyJet flight from Manchester to Malta.

Smith told the court he was drunk after consuming over 3/4 of a bottle of duty free whisky.

He stood up in his seat when the seatbelt sign was on, and when approached by a female steward he lunged at her, grabbing her neck with both hands, the court was told.

In court, Smith "expressed remorse" for his behaviour.

The case was reported in the Manchester Evening News.

There is a real issue here for anyone who flies.

What should you do if you sat next to the likes of Smith, or someone like him drunkenly falls on you?

The court heard the flight attendant pushed him away in an effort to defend herself. He then lost his balance and fell on a row of passengers, who helped to restrain him.

The following week, Smith was arrested after his returning flight and admitted to the assault and being intoxicated on an aircraft.

Barrister Colette Renton, who defended Smith, said his memory of the incident was “fragmented” from being drunk at the time.

She said that his fear of flying is what led him to drink in excess.

Smith could face up to two years in jail when sentenced in the new year. But maybe people guilty of this type of offence should simply be banned from ever flying again.