Unruly United passenger must pay $20K for diverting flight

US News

By Allie Griffin

An unruly and “physically aggressive” passenger aboard a United Airlines flight was ordered to pay more than $20,000 to the company after his behavior forced the pilot to divert the Newark-bound plane to the Maine.

Englishman Alexander Michael Dominic MacDonald must pay more than $20,638 in compensation to United for the March 1 incident in which he threatened to “spoil the plane,” a federal judge ruled last Thursday.

The 30-year-old, who has been in custody since his mid-air explosion, was also sentenced to prison and will be returned to the UK by US immigration officials, according to the sentence lodged with the U.S. District Court in Maine. .

MacDonald, who pleaded guilty to one count of interfering with members of the flight crew, was arguing loudly with his girlfriend on United Flight 883 from London’s Heathrow Airport and l The chief flight attendant asked him to calm down, according to an FBI affidavit.

He initially complied, but a few minutes later he did it again — this time yelling at another flight attendant, the document says.

The head flight attendant stood between the “verbally and physically aggressive” passenger and the other flight attendant who walked away.

The crew member tried to calm the crazed Englishman – but his situation only got worse.

MacDonald asked the attendant if he would like to “have a problem” and threatened to “mess up the plane” by putting his hands on the attendant’s shoulders and pushing him into a corner, according to the affidavit.

Crew members and a passenger were then able to put MacDonald in flex handcuffs, but were unable to restrain him in a seat while he continued his tirade.

The purser and pilot decided that the plane needed to land as soon as possible in order to remove him from the plane for the safety of the crew and the flight.

The plane, with 160 passengers and 10 crew members on board, then landed in Bangor, Maine – where the hothead and his girlfriend were taken and met by law enforcement at the airport – before taking off again to head towards its original destination in New Jersey.

Videos posted on social media showed MacDonald being escorted off the plane and down the steps with his ankles and hands tied to a police car waiting on the tarmac to applause from other passengers.

Reports of unruly passengers reached a staggering high in 2021 after pandemic travel restrictions were lifted, with nearly 6,000 reported, according to FAA statistics.

The numbers have fallen significantly since then, but remain above pre-pandemic levels. There were 2,075 journalists last year and 649 so far in 2024.