I came across this in Diena.lv this morning and have provided a rough translation from the original Latvian into English below. There is a nice video at the site of the original article in Russian, well worth the listen:
Russian businessman beats in-flight cabin crew and vowed to kill pilots and all 47 passengers
Author: Diena.lv. 2013th OF 25. January 12:30
Russian entrepreneur Sergei Kabalov jumped up during a flight that went from Moscow to Hurghada, Egypt. He has beaten one of the cabin crew and threatened to kill the pilot reported foreign media.
The 54-year-old businessman was very drunk and threatened to kill anyone who "come into his way" as well as to make the airplane crash in the water. He was very intoxicated and did not like the flight attendant reporting to the pilot of a host of aggressive behaviours directed towards passengers and staff.
"He blocked Dennis in the aisle, hit him with a knee in the face, then repeatedly beat his head against the wall," says a witness, actress Elena. The businessman according to the witness threatened that he would kill him, and cursed the rest of the passengers. Other passengers also found that the aggressive man smoked in the toilet several times, but when the flight attendant has mentioned this behavior and asked him to stop, the business man attacked him from on top his head.
"From the start, I will get all of you, and then we'll see. Special Services, I am a deputy, I can kill a person with two fingers," cried the aggressive man.
He irritated passengers by trying to break into the cockpit and shouted that all would suffer death. "All the passengers were in a panic, the children cried, he was shouting very loudly. One man stood up and tried to calm him, but he broke his nose," says the actress.
Airline security officer tried to calm the mad passengers and warned that Kabalovs behavior can be seen as a hijack of the aircraft, but even that did not stop the aggressive Kabalov.
Eyewitnesses said the aircraft immediately after landing in Hurghada was met by the local police. However, it appears that no penalties were imposed on the aggressive man - he's still resting peacefully in Egypt.
"We have already written a request to address the aggressive male behavior. Stewards and pilots made a service report, but the actress produced a written application to the police," the media informed the airline. "But we were told it is unlikely he will get a fine. Afraid that such a person will not be sentenced to anything," said airline employees.
That's not a machine translation which simply cannot handle Latvian, but it's the best I can provide. The video backs up the written story with the addition of the facts that the man smoked five cigarettes in the WC and when exiting the aircraft held his tiny daughter in front of him close to his chest so that the police could not grab him. Also mentioned is the fact that the actress tried to provide a written report to the police but they could not speak Russian and so it went nowhere.
It triggered memories of a trip Mrs. T and I had made on a chartered flight from Moscow to Tunisia in 2004. Interesting to see that little has changed!
The fun started right at the departure gate at Sheremetyevo II where a half dozen fellow passengers decided to wait for the boarding call by sitting cross legged on the floor passing around a 40oz of Vodka. A "glass" bottle of hard liquor! When the boarding call came one large fellow simply strolled past the gate attendant with his open glass bottle of spirits (he had thrown the cap away to illustrate his commitment to the task at hand) and boarded the plane with no fuss. I shrugged my shoulders and boarded as well. From there on it got weird.
My wife and I had opposite aisle seats on a rickety TU-154 and sitting to my left was a newly wed couple who seemed fairly normal, so I settled in for the flight. After about an hour I noticed that the large bottle toting fellow was sitting several rows in front of me and was actually accompanied by a woman and a small baby. There was some activity that I could not make out but it made me nervous and once the liquor cart had moved on by I could see that he was standing in the aisle with a plastic wash basin which was full of baby urine and was now starting a wobbly trip to the toilets in the back, sloshing the basin contents badly. He made it past me safely enough and I felt the tension slowly leave my neck and back. With a slight sigh I turned to my left to see if my seat mates had caught that little performance only to witness them produce their own bottle of vodka and some apples out of a carry on. Great I thought. And the pièce de rẻsistance, a 12" sst carving knife which was promptly put to use butchering apples on the wooden board which had appeared out of thin air as well. They even had beautifully decorated silver Georgian shot cups of the type you find for sale all over Moscow. I felt the tension creeping back up my spine once again and could barely turn my head on a stiffening neck to see if my wife was catching any of this only to observe that she was blissfully unconscious. I was on my own.
Soon enough the now empty vodka bottle was rolling around on the floor under the seats forward and the newly weds were nodding off. The large fellow was in repose snoring mightily as well and I again began to relax. And then the newly weds woke up and started fighting while the attendants tried to get everyone back in their seats and restrained with seat belts as we descended to land. I couldn't wait to get off that plane but the comedy wasn't over yet!
There was no gate for us so we stood around on the tarmac waiting for buses but the engines were still turning. So my last sight of that flight and it's deranged passengers was of a member of the flight crew running around pulling lit cigarettes out of the mouths of all these nicotine starved drunks who were of course taking shelter from the blazing North African sun under the aircraft's wings and all around those still turning turbines.
We sat in the grass some distance away and caught some other bus from some other flight.
Russian businessman beats in-flight cabin crew and vowed to kill pilots and all 47 passengers
Author: Diena.lv. 2013th OF 25. January 12:30
Russian entrepreneur Sergei Kabalov jumped up during a flight that went from Moscow to Hurghada, Egypt. He has beaten one of the cabin crew and threatened to kill the pilot reported foreign media.
The 54-year-old businessman was very drunk and threatened to kill anyone who "come into his way" as well as to make the airplane crash in the water. He was very intoxicated and did not like the flight attendant reporting to the pilot of a host of aggressive behaviours directed towards passengers and staff.
"He blocked Dennis in the aisle, hit him with a knee in the face, then repeatedly beat his head against the wall," says a witness, actress Elena. The businessman according to the witness threatened that he would kill him, and cursed the rest of the passengers. Other passengers also found that the aggressive man smoked in the toilet several times, but when the flight attendant has mentioned this behavior and asked him to stop, the business man attacked him from on top his head.
"From the start, I will get all of you, and then we'll see. Special Services, I am a deputy, I can kill a person with two fingers," cried the aggressive man.
He irritated passengers by trying to break into the cockpit and shouted that all would suffer death. "All the passengers were in a panic, the children cried, he was shouting very loudly. One man stood up and tried to calm him, but he broke his nose," says the actress.
Airline security officer tried to calm the mad passengers and warned that Kabalovs behavior can be seen as a hijack of the aircraft, but even that did not stop the aggressive Kabalov.
Eyewitnesses said the aircraft immediately after landing in Hurghada was met by the local police. However, it appears that no penalties were imposed on the aggressive man - he's still resting peacefully in Egypt.
"We have already written a request to address the aggressive male behavior. Stewards and pilots made a service report, but the actress produced a written application to the police," the media informed the airline. "But we were told it is unlikely he will get a fine. Afraid that such a person will not be sentenced to anything," said airline employees.
That's not a machine translation which simply cannot handle Latvian, but it's the best I can provide. The video backs up the written story with the addition of the facts that the man smoked five cigarettes in the WC and when exiting the aircraft held his tiny daughter in front of him close to his chest so that the police could not grab him. Also mentioned is the fact that the actress tried to provide a written report to the police but they could not speak Russian and so it went nowhere.
It triggered memories of a trip Mrs. T and I had made on a chartered flight from Moscow to Tunisia in 2004. Interesting to see that little has changed!
The fun started right at the departure gate at Sheremetyevo II where a half dozen fellow passengers decided to wait for the boarding call by sitting cross legged on the floor passing around a 40oz of Vodka. A "glass" bottle of hard liquor! When the boarding call came one large fellow simply strolled past the gate attendant with his open glass bottle of spirits (he had thrown the cap away to illustrate his commitment to the task at hand) and boarded the plane with no fuss. I shrugged my shoulders and boarded as well. From there on it got weird.
My wife and I had opposite aisle seats on a rickety TU-154 and sitting to my left was a newly wed couple who seemed fairly normal, so I settled in for the flight. After about an hour I noticed that the large bottle toting fellow was sitting several rows in front of me and was actually accompanied by a woman and a small baby. There was some activity that I could not make out but it made me nervous and once the liquor cart had moved on by I could see that he was standing in the aisle with a plastic wash basin which was full of baby urine and was now starting a wobbly trip to the toilets in the back, sloshing the basin contents badly. He made it past me safely enough and I felt the tension slowly leave my neck and back. With a slight sigh I turned to my left to see if my seat mates had caught that little performance only to witness them produce their own bottle of vodka and some apples out of a carry on. Great I thought. And the pièce de rẻsistance, a 12" sst carving knife which was promptly put to use butchering apples on the wooden board which had appeared out of thin air as well. They even had beautifully decorated silver Georgian shot cups of the type you find for sale all over Moscow. I felt the tension creeping back up my spine once again and could barely turn my head on a stiffening neck to see if my wife was catching any of this only to observe that she was blissfully unconscious. I was on my own.
Soon enough the now empty vodka bottle was rolling around on the floor under the seats forward and the newly weds were nodding off. The large fellow was in repose snoring mightily as well and I again began to relax. And then the newly weds woke up and started fighting while the attendants tried to get everyone back in their seats and restrained with seat belts as we descended to land. I couldn't wait to get off that plane but the comedy wasn't over yet!
There was no gate for us so we stood around on the tarmac waiting for buses but the engines were still turning. So my last sight of that flight and it's deranged passengers was of a member of the flight crew running around pulling lit cigarettes out of the mouths of all these nicotine starved drunks who were of course taking shelter from the blazing North African sun under the aircraft's wings and all around those still turning turbines.
We sat in the grass some distance away and caught some other bus from some other flight.
If you ever get the chance, check out the documentary "Airplaneski". Though it dates back to the mid-'90s, it sounds like not much has changed at some of the more obscure airlines.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, the reviews I've seen suggest that Aeroflot is now on par with or better than some major North American airlines, particularly American and United. True?
Good documentary. As a bonus it even managed to capture some of the Russian soul.
ReplyDeleteFrom personal experience Aeroflot now rates higher than TransAero and some European airlines I've flown with but I cannot speak to the American carriers. I would rate my recent Aeroflot experiences higher than Air France but below Air Baltic or Lufthansa for instance.
But the small carriers in Russia are a nightmare. A combination of mechanical failure and human error has caused the Russian aviation industry to have an accident rate three times the world average. Not sure what Aeroflots is specifically. Most every problem I've had in Russia has been on a charter or one of the small carriers like Red Wings.
I've flown Vladivostok Air with no problems, and the aircraft was spanking new to boot; good in-flight hot meal, too. But their aircraft sitting on the ground at the airport, in previous years, were....not confidence-inspiring. Still, they won some kind of award in 2010, so there must have been a significant turnaround. To be fair to small carriers in the case you cite, they did try to take the proper action and follow acceptable procedure, the drunken lout was simply too violent, and no matter what airline that took place on, the cabin crew would have had to rush him and sedate or tie him up. Professional "Sir, you can't do that: Sir!!!" was obviously not going to cut it.
ReplyDeleteThe disgusting part is that he apparently got away with this behaviour. He should be blacklisted on every airline and not permitted to fly until he bought his own plane and hired a crew that would put up with him.