Plane passenger handcuffed to seat at 36,000ft as he screams ‘I’m not a terrorist’

A vodka-drinking holidaymaker who made cabin crew and passengers uncomfortable on an eight-hour flight from Mexico back to Manchester Airport has been jailed. Alexander Rogers, 40, was handcuffed to a chair, a court was told. Rogers – a self-employed scaffolder – told police he had six double vodkas before boarding – called one member of cabin crew an ‘Arab b****’.

The court heard after being handcuffed, he told cabin crew members: “You can’t f****** cuff me. Black Lives Matter. I am not a terrorist. I am not a danger to the plane. I am not a terrorist.” The altercation started after Rogers pushed the shoulder of another member of cabin crew and said to her: “Just f*** off. Get f*****”

Children and families were forced to move seats, the judge heard, and called his behaviour “quite appalling”, reports the MEN.

He said everyone on board was “a victim as they couldn’t go anywhere at 36,000ft”. The captain was even on the verge of diverting the plane, Manchester Magistrates’ Court was told on Thursday (November 7), but decided against it because of weather conditions and the inconvenience to passengers.

Keira Shaw, prosecuting, said Rogers, of Elizabeth Street in Castleton, was flying home in premium seats with his partner. Ms Shaw told the court two hours into the flight a fight started between him and a passenger in front. Rogers was said to have kicked the back of the passenger’s chair and put his feet through a gap between the chairs. He was also overheard threatening to ‘knock him out’.

Cabin crew moved Rogers to the back of the plane, the court heard, but was not compliant. Other passengers were forced to move so he could be seated on the last row. The prosecutor said Rogers caused ‘disruption’ by throwing one of his shoes into rows of passengers in front. He also called members of the cabin crew ‘s****’ as he demanded more food and water.

Two off-duty police officers on the TUI flight from Cancun were forced to step in to try to calm Rogers. He stood up, however, and pushed the member of cabin crew after trying to block her path, the court heard.

The court heard after he was arrested in Manchester, he told police he was a nervous flier and couldn’t remember large parts of the incident. “He accepted that he was intoxicated and had he not had so much alcohol, he would not have acted in that manner,” Ms Shaw said. In a statement provided to the court, the flight’s captain called Rogers’ behaviour ‘physically abusive, obscene and lewd’.

Hugh Barton, defending Rogers, said it was an “extremely serious and very unpleasant incident”. He said: “He is genuinely remorseful and ashamed about what he did. He does not take issue with the account that has been given. He accepts fully his responsibility. This was completely and utterly out of character and he is deeply ashamed of how he acted.”

Mr Barton said Rogers had himself sought professional help, saying he had flown without issue on many occasions previously. Judge Paul Lawton said Rogers boarded the flight drunk and continued drinking. Sentencing him, he said he behaved in a ‘quite appalling manner’.

Judge Lawton said children were moved because of him and said: “The victims are everyone on that flight. No one has anywhere to go at 36,000ft. It is not a pub, where people can walk out. There are people who say they will not fly again when they see people like this.”

Rogers pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing at Manchester Magistrates’ Court to being drunk on board an aircraft; a racially or religiously-aggravated harassment charge and assault by beating. He was jailed for six months.

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.