Russians' abusive plane tirade to cost them $19K
Two Russian men will have to pay $19,000 US for drunken and unruly behaviour that diverted a flight to Labrador after a pilot decided to land the plane headed to New York.
The fine covers the cost of diverting the plane. The two also were sentenced Wednesday to the five days time they spent in custody.
Sergey Yaremenko and Nikolai Merenkov, both 42, pleaded guilty in Happy Valley-Goose Bay court on Tuesday to mischief, uttering threats, and endangering the safety and security of people on a Delta Air Lines flight between Moscow and New York.
The men were taken into custody last Friday after the pilot landed the plane to protect the crew and passengers.
Court had been told that the men had already been drinking before the flight and continued to consume alcohol when the plane was in the air.
At one point, a flight attendant told them alcohol was no longer available. However, the men kept getting out of their seats and demanding that they be served drinks.
The court heard that Yaremenko lashed out at a member of the flight crew, telling her that all flight attendants are prostitutes.
He then swore at her and others and called them names. Yaremenko said he knew where the flight crew stayed in Moscow, and that the next time they were there, they would die.
During all this, court was told, Merenkov kept yelling for more alcohol.
The men, who import designer clothing for a store they run, had been heading to a trade show in Las Vegas.
Court heard that when the pilot decided to divert the plane, Merenkov settled down and returned to his seat, although Yaremenko remained belligerent with the crew, right up to the moment when RCMP boarded the plane and handcuffed him.
