From the Daily Mail;
Tycoon Houshang Jafari jailed for grabbing helicopter laden with passengers | Mail Online
Jail for air-rage tycoon who grabbed helicopter laden with passengers as it tried to take off
By
Luke Salkeld
Last updated at 5:42 PM on 3rd August 2010
It's easy to understand the frustration caused by a noisy helicopter landing outside one's manor house.
But the lawn of a 16th century Grade II listed building is a dangerous place to get air rage.
Furious that the rotas were blowing debris on to his nearby Land Rover, Houshang Jafari stormed up to the helicopter, kicked it, and threw a plastic bag full of bones at the spinning blades.
Caught on camera: The moment the furious tycoon, circled, grabbed the helicopter as it attempted to take off
Then, as the aircraft full of terrified passengers took off, the 22 stone businessman hung onto its landing bars, causing it to tip over in mid air.
The court heard he had put the pilot and his passengers at risk of 'catastrophic consequences' as the helicopter tried to take off from Dower House in Bristol.
Jafari, 58, was 'livid' when the private Jet Ranger landed outside his £1.2million flat on land shared by the other residents of the converted former hospital.
Jailed: Houshang Jafari arrives at Bristol Crown Court today for sentencing
He tried to open the pilot's door, lashing out at the side of aircraft, and then threw a plastic bag full of chicken bones towards the rotor - which could have become caught up in the engine, causing the helicopter to spin out of control.
Yesterday he wiped a tear from his eye as he was jailed for a year for endangering the safety of an aircraft.
The millionaire property developer had claimed during his trial that he was too fat to have caused any trouble.
He told the court:'I made no contact with [the helicopter] at all. The rotor blades are really going fast, there was a lot of wind.
'I took a full step back, lifted on to my tip-toes and I lifted both my hands up. I said: 'Where the hell are you going?'
'I made no contact with it in any way. I am a fat man, my foot doesn't come up – how can I kick it?'
But one of the passengers, said she thought she was going to die as a result of Jafari's outburst.
The pilot Mark Blokland had flown the helicopter to Dower House with his wife Tammy to pick up his business partner Simon Clarke and his partner Elizabeth Hale.
Mr Clarke had met with other residents of the building to ensure there were no problems with the landing but had not informed everyone of the helicopter's arrival.
Dr Blokland, who has more than 400 hours of flying experience, circled the area twice at 1,000ft before he landed and kept the rotor blades spinning at 'idle' speed while the couple boarded.
Suddenly Jafari appeared and threw a green plastic bag full of chicken bones he had been feeding his dogs at the helicopter before kicking it with the sole of his foot.
As the helicopter began to lift off Jafari then clung on to the chopper's undercarriage forcing it to bank 'aggressively' to the right hand side, terrifying the passengers and witnesses to the scene.
The helicopter 'rocked from side to side' and witnesses thought it would crash.
Miss Hale told the jury: 'He clung on to the skid and we lurched to the right.
'It was a bit of a blur after that. I started to cry. I think I was saying I thought I was going to die.'
The court heard Mr Blokland could not power the helicopter down, as the blades may have taken the Jafari's head off, but eventually managed to recover the aircraft and set it down in a nearby field.
Mr Blokland, a chiropractor, has not flown since the incident in May last year.
He told the court he had lost all confidence and that his pilot's license has subsequently lapsed.
After the incident Mr Blokland called the Civil Aviation Authority and the police to report the incident and Mr Jafari was arrested.
He was later convicted of one count of endangering an aircraft at a trial in July.
Yesterday Judge Michael Roach told Jafari at Bristol Crown Court: 'Grabbing the right hand skid on take off was very dangerous and was liable to destabilise the aircraft which had only risen six feet off the ground.
'You physically interfered with a helicopter on take off. In my judgement your behaviour was deliberate and reckless.'
He added: 'You are an intelligent, resourceful man who on this particular occasion let your temper get the better of you and you acted in a dangerous manner.
'In my judgement the case is too serious to justify a suspended sentence.'
He also ordered Jafari to pay £2,800 in costs, saying: 'There is no reason, it seems to me, why the public should bear the expense of this case.'