Thursday, March 29, 2007

KLM pilot assaulted by pax at Amsterdam

KLMThe captain of a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Boeing 737 was assaulted by a male passenger at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport last night after the man was denied boarding because he was "too drunk to travel." At the time of the incident, passengers were boarding the aircraft for a scheduled flight to Aberdeen.

A report on the BBC News website says that the passenger, who was not identified by name, was charged with assault and detained in Amsterdam. He was fined 1,500 Euros and later released.

The BBC provided these details:
The [KLM] spokesman said: "The captain told other passengers what had happened and was then able to conduct the flight as normal."

He said the airline had a strict boarding policy and added: "We do not tolerate any misbehaviour of passengers because we do everything we can to safeguard security.

"We can put people on blacklists, banning them from flying with the company, if they cause problems. Anyone who has any intention of causing disruption is a problem for KLM."

A spokesman for the Dutch military police said: "He had got through the security check and went to get on the plane when the captain told him he had drunk too much."
The flight was delayed 30 minutes because of the incident, but then continued on its journey to Aberdeen with the other 99 passengers. The captain was said to have suffered only "slight injuries" -- and a torn uniform.