According to reports in the British press, a top mechanic employed by McLaren has been fired from the Woking outfit after going berserk on a flight from Phuket. Vincent Mallet was accused of harassing passengers on board the plane and despite the airline's refusal to press charges, the Formula One squad was quick to relieve him of his duties.
“After looking into the matter we decided to terminate his contract immediately," a spokesperson for the team remarked.
Apparently the mechanic had been drinking heavily at the time of the incident where he went on an ‘air rage' and began tormenting his fellow passengers with rather childlike behaviour. The ruckus was that bad that the pilot was forced to return the aircraft to Bangkok where the crew took thirty minutes to handcuff him.
"He had been drinking whisky. He started to slap the faces and heads of other passengers and made a loud noise, scaring people,” a spokesperson for the airline was quoted as saying in the Sun. “Then he entered the galley for more drinks and threw ice cubes."
Well Done McLaren.
If anyone's interested the above came from the F1-Live website.
F1-Live
[ 05 December 2001: Message edited by: sirwa69 ]