Family fined $22,500 and banned from flying after brawl on Virgin plane
11.06.11
Ten British holidaymakers were questioned by police on Thursday, with three members of the same family arrested and fined $7500 (£2300) each, with the alternative of one month in prison, after an angry brawl broke out 30,000 feet up on a Virgin Atlantic flight from Gatwick to Barbados, according to the Telegraph.
The cabin crew had to break up the fight, and police were waiting on the runway as the Boeing 747-400 landed to question 10 people. Three members of the same family were arrested and, after a court appearance on Friday, they were fined but not jailed. They were also banned by the airline from ever using its flights again and warned them that they would have to make other arrangements to get back to England.
Derek Edmond, 76 years old, his daughter Zoe King, 46, and her husband Martin, 49, pleaded guilty to being part of the ‘vicious’ brawl, which occurred toward the end of the flight. Police said Mrs King was celebrating her birthday. She and her family had been drinking for much of the flight when a Danish family sitting nearby accused them of being too noisy.
After the Danes complained, other passengers watched as Martin King and his wife swapped punches with the people sitting in front of them, the Daily Mail adds. As the crew tried for about an hour to contain the fracas in the rear of the plane, the pilot radioed ahead asking for police to meet the flight upon landing. The pilot also ordered the 229 passengers and 16-member crew to stay in their seats for the final hours of the flight.
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