Man fined £500 for boarding plane while drunk

A Moray man has been fined £500 after he boarded a plane at Aberdeen Airport while drunk.

The Flybe service from Aberdeen to London Gatwick on Sunday was delayed by more than half an hour while police removed Brian Kerr from the flight.

Kerr, of 71 Anderson Drive, New Elgin, received the fine after he admitted breaching the Air Navigation Order 2005 and the Civil Aviation Act 1982 at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday.

The court heard that the aircraft, which had 83 other passengers on board, had to taxi back to the terminal after cabin crew noticed the 57-year-old was under the influence of alcohol.

Fiscal depute Alan Townsend said some passengers missed connecting flights because of the delay.

Kerr’s defence agent, Peter Shepherd, said his client was intending to fly to London for work, but had too much to drink before boarding the 4.50pm flight. “He apologises to all the other passengers and he apologises for being drunk,” the solicitor said.

A spokesman for the airline said: “Flybe takes this very seriously, not least of all because it compromises the safety of our other passengers.

“The airline has a strict zero-tolerance attitude to this kind of behaviour and we fully support the actions of the sheriff and hope it sends out the message to any other passengers thinking of getting on a Flybe aircraft in an inebriated state that this behaviour is not acceptable.

“There is no question he will now be banned from future Flybe flights. This is standard practice not just for ourselves, but many other airlines.”