Airbubba
4th Mar 2020, 22:08
Heathrow Airport: Mum bit Swiss pilot in cockpit in 'self-defence'
3 hours ago
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/2FF1/production/_111137221_060430754.jpg Image copyright Alamy - Henrietta Mitaire said she was 'scared' by how 'aggresive' Captain Guido Keel was being, the court heard A woman accused of biting a Swiss Air pilot in a row over a child's buggy has told a court she acted in self-defence.
Henrietta Mitaire, 23, and her mother Mary Roberts, 53, are accused of pushing Captain Guido Keel to the floor, scratching and kicking him.
Ms Mitaire told Uxbridge Magistrates' Court her actions arose from "extreme fear" as she "tussled" with the pilot on 2 May last year.
Both she and Ms Roberts deny assaulting Captain Keel.
Before their flight left Zurich, Ms Mitaire had argued with airport staff who had told her to check a pushchair into the plane's hold, the court previously heard.
After landing at Heathrow from Switzerland, she approached the head of cabin crew to discuss the matter further when the captain "interrupted" the conversation.
A statement read to the court alleged that the pilot made "forceful contact" with Ms Mitaire's shoulder so she took out her phone and began recording him.'Used my teeth'"This made him angry and he grabbed for my phone and tried to take it to the cockpit," she said.
She said the pair "tussled", and the captain grabbed her, leaving a bruise.
Ms Mitaire, of South Kensington, said in her statement that her hair was pulled and she was "petrified" she might lose consciousness as Captain Keel "kneeled on top of her".
"In a desperate attempt to relieve the pressure so I could breathe, I used my teeth to try and get him off me," she added.
"All my actions during this altercation were in self-defence, most of them in a state of extreme fear."
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/A521/production/_111137224_060409812.jpg Image copyright PA Media - Henrietta Mitaiare and Mary Roberts were both removed from the aircraft by police and arrested James Nash, representing Ms Roberts, of Fulham, challenged the "diverging accounts" of previous witnesses, saying she "was acting in genuine defence of her daughter".
"The captain was pinning her daughter, Henrietta, to the floor and Ms Roberts felt that she had to intervene," he said.
Ben Summers, representing Mitaire, said she was "the sort of person who does stand her ground" and was "demanding answers" from staff which was "not the same as being aggressive".
The prosecution offered no evidence for both defendants on charges of failing to obey the lawful commands of the aircraft's captain.
In his evidence co-pilot Friedrich Prieler made reference to the Tokyo Convention - which grants certain immunities for captains on their aircraft if they believe there is a threat to the safety of persons on board.
Mr Summers argued that the convention "only applies when in flight".
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-51740940
From the New Zealand Herald:
A mother and her 23-year-old daughter are accused of attacking a Swiss International Airlines pilot, battering him in his cockpit.
Henrietta Mitaiare and her mother Mary Roberts, 53, appeared in Uxbridge Magistrates court in connection with the brawl at the passenger plane's controls.
The pair had been trying to make a complaint to the cabin staff when things got nasty.
"It was like a battlefield, there were shoes on the floor and some buttons," the plane's co-pilot Friederich Preiler told the court. Competing pre-flight checks in the cabin, Preiler was witness to the onslaught:
"I saw some hair and two telephones. I saw blood on the captain's neck. I saw that he had scratches."
"I saw that the pilot's shirt was full of blood. I saw on the hand that there was more blood."
Mitaiare allegedly bit Captain Guido Keel on the arm, after accusing him of racist behaviour.
The UK nationals were returning home from a holiday in Switzerland, when they got into a disagreement with Zurich airport staff. Having been told to check the buggy, Mitaiare refused saying the pram was "too expensive", the court heard.
It was not until landing at London's Heathrow Airport that the tussle broke out in earnest. According to Ali Chkerdaa the flight purser, he was approached by the women after landing, where they asked to make a complaint about the ground staff in Zurich.
Pilot Keel came out of the cockpit, to see what was going, when he was promptly told by Mitaiare that he had "nothing to do with it" and was set upon by the angry passenger.
Roberts was reported to have got involved in the tussle, saying "get off my baby" as she pushed past the purser.
"It was a back and forth – 'give me the name, give me the name'.
"I thought, OK, I'm the flight manager I will give her the business card – 'If you have a problem or you are not happy you can contact Swiss and they will know exactly who was on this flight on the ground'.
"She didn't accept my business card. Then the captain came beside me and said 'you have already the name of the person if there is a problem you can write to Swiss.'
"She said 'Sorry you have nothing to do with it, stay away.'
"She said 'Swiss people are racist' – it's because she is a black woman travelling with a child.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=12313907
3 hours ago
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/2FF1/production/_111137221_060430754.jpg Image copyright Alamy - Henrietta Mitaire said she was 'scared' by how 'aggresive' Captain Guido Keel was being, the court heard A woman accused of biting a Swiss Air pilot in a row over a child's buggy has told a court she acted in self-defence.
Henrietta Mitaire, 23, and her mother Mary Roberts, 53, are accused of pushing Captain Guido Keel to the floor, scratching and kicking him.
Ms Mitaire told Uxbridge Magistrates' Court her actions arose from "extreme fear" as she "tussled" with the pilot on 2 May last year.
Both she and Ms Roberts deny assaulting Captain Keel.
Before their flight left Zurich, Ms Mitaire had argued with airport staff who had told her to check a pushchair into the plane's hold, the court previously heard.
After landing at Heathrow from Switzerland, she approached the head of cabin crew to discuss the matter further when the captain "interrupted" the conversation.
A statement read to the court alleged that the pilot made "forceful contact" with Ms Mitaire's shoulder so she took out her phone and began recording him.'Used my teeth'"This made him angry and he grabbed for my phone and tried to take it to the cockpit," she said.
She said the pair "tussled", and the captain grabbed her, leaving a bruise.
Ms Mitaire, of South Kensington, said in her statement that her hair was pulled and she was "petrified" she might lose consciousness as Captain Keel "kneeled on top of her".
"In a desperate attempt to relieve the pressure so I could breathe, I used my teeth to try and get him off me," she added.
"All my actions during this altercation were in self-defence, most of them in a state of extreme fear."
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/A521/production/_111137224_060409812.jpg Image copyright PA Media - Henrietta Mitaiare and Mary Roberts were both removed from the aircraft by police and arrested James Nash, representing Ms Roberts, of Fulham, challenged the "diverging accounts" of previous witnesses, saying she "was acting in genuine defence of her daughter".
"The captain was pinning her daughter, Henrietta, to the floor and Ms Roberts felt that she had to intervene," he said.
Ben Summers, representing Mitaire, said she was "the sort of person who does stand her ground" and was "demanding answers" from staff which was "not the same as being aggressive".
The prosecution offered no evidence for both defendants on charges of failing to obey the lawful commands of the aircraft's captain.
In his evidence co-pilot Friedrich Prieler made reference to the Tokyo Convention - which grants certain immunities for captains on their aircraft if they believe there is a threat to the safety of persons on board.
Mr Summers argued that the convention "only applies when in flight".
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-51740940
From the New Zealand Herald:
A mother and her 23-year-old daughter are accused of attacking a Swiss International Airlines pilot, battering him in his cockpit.
Henrietta Mitaiare and her mother Mary Roberts, 53, appeared in Uxbridge Magistrates court in connection with the brawl at the passenger plane's controls.
The pair had been trying to make a complaint to the cabin staff when things got nasty.
"It was like a battlefield, there were shoes on the floor and some buttons," the plane's co-pilot Friederich Preiler told the court. Competing pre-flight checks in the cabin, Preiler was witness to the onslaught:
"I saw some hair and two telephones. I saw blood on the captain's neck. I saw that he had scratches."
"I saw that the pilot's shirt was full of blood. I saw on the hand that there was more blood."
Mitaiare allegedly bit Captain Guido Keel on the arm, after accusing him of racist behaviour.
The UK nationals were returning home from a holiday in Switzerland, when they got into a disagreement with Zurich airport staff. Having been told to check the buggy, Mitaiare refused saying the pram was "too expensive", the court heard.
It was not until landing at London's Heathrow Airport that the tussle broke out in earnest. According to Ali Chkerdaa the flight purser, he was approached by the women after landing, where they asked to make a complaint about the ground staff in Zurich.
Pilot Keel came out of the cockpit, to see what was going, when he was promptly told by Mitaiare that he had "nothing to do with it" and was set upon by the angry passenger.
Roberts was reported to have got involved in the tussle, saying "get off my baby" as she pushed past the purser.
"It was a back and forth – 'give me the name, give me the name'.
"I thought, OK, I'm the flight manager I will give her the business card – 'If you have a problem or you are not happy you can contact Swiss and they will know exactly who was on this flight on the ground'.
"She didn't accept my business card. Then the captain came beside me and said 'you have already the name of the person if there is a problem you can write to Swiss.'
"She said 'Sorry you have nothing to do with it, stay away.'
"She said 'Swiss people are racist' – it's because she is a black woman travelling with a child.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=12313907