Drunken incident on plane will cost passenger $30,000

$20,000 in restitution costs added to $10,000 fine

A Russian citizen whose drunken behaviour forced a transatlantic flight to make an emergency landing in central Newfoundland last week was ordered Friday to make amends.

39-yr old Sergey Kotsur was fined $10,000 in provincial court in Gander.

As well, he has been ordered to pay $20,000 to Delta Airlines, which made an emergency landing on Sunday when Kotsur became belligerent with other passengers and airline staff.

Kotsur plead guilty to assaulting a member of the crew and to interfering with a flight crew. The Crown dropped a charge of mischief that was laid earlier this week.

Witnesses to the incident said it took eight people, including both crew and passengers, to restrain Kotsur.

Police said Kotsur remained difficult when he was taken into custody and tried to beat the window out of a police car.

The flight had originated in Moscow and was heading to Atlanta.

Travelling to Miami for vacation

Court was told that Mr. Kotsur, who owns restaurants in Russia, had been drinking before he boarded the flight from Moscow to Atlanta, and that he continued to drink liquor that someone had brought on board. Kotsur and his family had been heading to Miami for a vacation at an upscale hotel.

Court was told that he started arguing with his family, and had been banging his head against the wall of the cabin.

A disclosure statement presented to the court said that Kotsur grabbed a flight attendant's thigh under her skirt.

Defence lawyer Juan O'Quinn said a combination of alcohol and medications led to the outburst, and that his client is sorry and embarrassed about his behaviour.

"Mr. Kotsur had been drinking on the plane and that there was some medication taken, some sleeping medication, I suspect, that had a reaction. It's not some kind of activity he would normally engage in," O'Quinn said.

"He's a fairly mild fellow but the concoction of the medicine he took and the alcohol, I suspect, probably had an impact on the way he behaved."

Kotsur has one year to pay the fine and the restitution.

Before Kotsur left the courtroom, Judge Bruce Short wished him a more uneventful flight.

The Delta Airlines flight was delayed through its unplanned, four-hour stopover in Gander on Sunday.

What I don't understand is, why do people feel they need to drink on the plane? The longest flight is what? A day at most? Do you really need to drink everyday? If you do, you "may" have a drinking problem.

Are there any of my readers that take flights, even occasionally, that also order drinks while flying that would like to perhaps enlighten me?