Spare a thought for the Emirates cabin crew and the the things they have to go through  

Omar Ahmed downed alcohol and bellowed 'Don’t f*** with me' at cabin crew.

An Emirates flight to Birmingham almost had to be diverted after a drunk passenger who “downed a NEAT bottle of gin” refused to sit down and became abusive.

Recently married Omar Ahmed became unruly after drinking two gin and tonics and then the bottle of gin on the flight from Dubai on December 16, last year.

The 26-year-old said to one of the cabin crew “kiss me brother, hug me brother” before later repeatedly shouting “Don’t f*** with me”, Birmingham Magistrates Court heard.

Ahmed had twice asked for and was given a gin and tonic and had not shown any signs of drunkenness, the court was told.

However, when he returned to the galley for a third time he had acquired two unopened bottles of gin.

“He downed one neat and at this point was swaying and slurring his words,” said David Devine, prosecuting.

“The second bottle was taken away from him and by this time the crew were approximately one hour from starting procedures for descent.”

Mr Devine said the defendant was told to go back to his seat because he was disturbing other passengers.

“Ahmed was unsteady on his feet and said to one of the cabin crew ‘kiss me brother, hug me brother’.”

He was then told to sit down and when one of the crew spoke to him in Arabic he appeared to understand.

Nevertheless he then started to raise his voice and repeatedly said ‘Don’t f*** with me.’

Mr Devine said Ahmed had also slapped one of the crew - although there had been no formal complaint.

He said the defendant had then asked to use the toilet and was told he could but needed to be quick because the plane was about to land.

Ahmed then started screaming and banging the toilet door and at one point it was “flung open” while he was still using it.

He then came out aggressive, still raising his voice and another passenger tried to intervene.

In a statement one of the cabin crew said in his nine years of service it had been the worse situations he had come across involving a passenger.

He said if it had happened earlier in the flight he would have been restrained and the flight possibly diverted.

Ahmed eventually did sit down and was later escorted off the plane by police.

Ahmed, of Brunswick Road, Balsall Heath, who admitted being drunk on an aircraft, was given a 12 month community order and ordered to do 250 hours unpaid work.

Aatif Riaz, defending, said Ahmed cared for his elderly parents and had married three and a half months ago.

“He can not handle his drink. The reason why he did on this occasion was that he was married, had gone on holiday and was enjoying himself.”

Source Credit:  Birmingham Mail 5th Jan 2018

Currently, IATA recommends all cabin crew use the guidelines issued by them, i.e. the alcohol traffic light system to to assess behaviour and prevent any passenger getting to the stage of intoxication.  However, in the above case, this guy managed to get hold of two unbottled Gin bottles.  The only way this incident could have been prevented is for the unopened spirit bottles to be in a locked cabinet. Presently, this is not covered by the international regulatory rules.