It’s been quite the holiday season for misbehaving travellers. There were of course the far too hearty partiers heading for Cancun, and now we have a chap wandering into the cockpit of an American Airlines flight and the icing on the cake is the brilliant couple refusing to comply with COVID regulations on arrival in Puerto Rico and locking themselves in a minivan.
The Cancun group have had way too much publicity already – there’s really not much more we need or want to say about them right now. If and when it gets to charges and fines we’ll keep you posted.
Honduras
So next, a passenger arrested in Honduras for damaging the cockpit of an American Airlines jet during boarding was released by authorities hours later.
The flight scheduled to depart for Miami on Tuesday afternoon was delayed for hours until a replacement plane could be arranged. The flight arrived in Florida early Wednesday, about eight hours late.
The passenger who caused the delay was seen in cell phone video as he leaned out of a cockpit window.
“He was freed because the airline did not press charges,” said Security Secretary spokesman Edgardo Barahona. “The aggression toward the pilot and the crew of the airline was not serious.”
However, American said it is not dropping the matter, although formal charges have not been presented to authorities.
“We are pursuing charges,” airline spokesman Curtis Blessing said Wednesday.
The cockpit door was open before the breach at the international airport in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, American Airlines said.
“Crew members intervened and the individual was ultimately apprehended by local law enforcement,” an airline spokesman said.
Airport security removed the man from the plane and turned him over to the National Police, who took him to a hospital for a series of tests.
“He was taken to an assistance center because according to other passengers he was acting strangely as if under the effects of some type of hallucinogen,” Barahona said.
The man was from the coastal city of La Ceiba and had no prior criminal history, according to police.
The flight had 121 passengers and six crew membersPuerto Rico
Meanwhile in Puerto Rico, a couple accused of refusing to fill out the required COVID-19 entry form at Puerto Rico’s airport and providing proof of a negative test for the coronavirus were detained after they locked themselves in their minivan for several hours, prompting police to send a negotiator, officials said Wednesday.
The couple detained late Tuesday were accused of obstructing a public official and could face a hefty fine or up to six months in prison.
They arrived in Puerto Rico Jan. 2 and had been ordered to appear in court on Tuesday. When they didn’t show up, authorities searched for them and found them inside a minivan in the northern city of Caguas.
A small number of protesters showed up to support the couple and threatened several journalists, who then left.
The island of 3.3 million people has reported more than 221,600 confirmed infections and more than 3,300 deaths. Given a recent spike in COVID-19 cases, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi has implemented more restrictions, including requiring all those traveling to Puerto Rico to present a negative test upon arrival regardless of their vaccination status.
Stay tuned…undoubtedly there will be more to come…