Twin sisters get wild; UA diverts to Anchorage
Guest
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Since everyone asked so nicely, here are some photographs, courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle, and a video news report which includes onboard footage of the incident.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2001/04/21/MN21 8107.DTL&type=news
[This message has been edited by FrontWindowSeat (edited 21 April 2001).]
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2001/04/21/MN21 8107.DTL&type=news
[This message has been edited by FrontWindowSeat (edited 21 April 2001).]
Guest
Posts: n/a
Solutions afoot !
We all know that these people should be walking or using surface transport we all say what should be done !
Who is doing it ?
Have a look at http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/airrage
Go to messages or votes and put some input in, there is a commercial solution, needs more research fill it in, E-Mail it to your address book.
A solution is around the corner.
To get it you've got to give it !
------------------
We all know that these people should be walking or using surface transport we all say what should be done !
Who is doing it ?
Have a look at http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/airrage
Go to messages or votes and put some input in, there is a commercial solution, needs more research fill it in, E-Mail it to your address book.
A solution is around the corner.
To get it you've got to give it !
------------------
Guest
Posts: n/a
Ozdude, On our (UA) 747-400s we do carry an extra pilot. Chances were it was not the 'captain' but more likely he fondly sent the 'bunky' out to help out the crew. Skydrifter, Liquor is free on Int'l flights so there is no 'profit' motivation to serve that pax drinks. Please remember that there are 18 crew, 8 in ECY where the twins were sitting. This has been discussed here before but it quite likely that they asked several crew for one drink, and kept their heads about them until the nicotine need hit them. So please do not lay the blame for this solely at the crews feet. They could have brought their own supply for all anyone knows.
Guest
Posts: n/a
And again...
A guitarist with the US rock band REM has
been charged by police after an alleged "air
rage" incident on board a flight to the UK.
Peter Buck has been charged with two common assaults on air crew, criminal damage,
being drunk on an aircraft and a public order
offence following an incident on a British
Airways flight.
The millionaire rock star was arrested at
Heathrow Airport on Saturday morning as he
got off flight BA 048 from Seattle. He will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates Court
on Monday.
REM are due to play at the South Africa
Freedom Day Concert in London's Trafalgar
Square on Sunday 29 April in front of Nelson
Mandela and a 20,000-strong crowd. The band is widely regarded as one of the
most influential groups of the past two
decades and have been an inspiration for a
generation of "alternative" rock bands.
BBC on-line
A guitarist with the US rock band REM has
been charged by police after an alleged "air
rage" incident on board a flight to the UK.
Peter Buck has been charged with two common assaults on air crew, criminal damage,
being drunk on an aircraft and a public order
offence following an incident on a British
Airways flight.
The millionaire rock star was arrested at
Heathrow Airport on Saturday morning as he
got off flight BA 048 from Seattle. He will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates Court
on Monday.
REM are due to play at the South Africa
Freedom Day Concert in London's Trafalgar
Square on Sunday 29 April in front of Nelson
Mandela and a 20,000-strong crowd. The band is widely regarded as one of the
most influential groups of the past two
decades and have been an inspiration for a
generation of "alternative" rock bands.
BBC on-line
Guest
Posts: n/a
FrontWindowSeat:
Thanks for pictures. (I guess)
Them bitches are ugly, doubt they were going to "model" anything in China.
Probably a couple of hookers trying for some business with the Chinamen.
Hope they spend a loooong time in jail.
[This message has been edited by TowerDog (edited 22 April 2001).]
Thanks for pictures. (I guess)
Them bitches are ugly, doubt they were going to "model" anything in China.
Probably a couple of hookers trying for some business with the Chinamen.
Hope they spend a loooong time in jail.
[This message has been edited by TowerDog (edited 22 April 2001).]
Guest
Posts: n/a
A passenger videotaped much of the episode, as excerpts were shown on a US morning news show today. Given the evidence, they probably should negotiate a guilty plea, and a year or two sentence at a Federal prison camp.
At least from the excerpts, the pilot and FA's seemed to be taking reasonable actions to quiet their disruptive behavior.
At least from the excerpts, the pilot and FA's seemed to be taking reasonable actions to quiet their disruptive behavior.
Guest
Posts: n/a
IT HAS BEEN SAID BEFORE -
In one case, a passenger sucessfully murdered an entire planeload. AK-259 came awfully close last year to another of those (hushed up by the Seattle FAA). The Japanese had a captain killed by a sky-rager. A passenger was murdered by an over-zealous bunch of pax in SLC (hushed up by the Seattle FAA).
Assertive measures need to be taken to prevent this kind of stuff. Passenger screening and monitoring is FREE - where is the effort????
Thank God the crews are at least diverting.
The maddening part is that the same screening / monitoring serves as an anti-terrorist measure & vice versa. This isn't rocket science.
The moral of this lesson in the U.S. is that not even tombstones will motivate the FAA, anymore.
Flying is disproportionately safe. At least something is being done about that, after all these years. It may not be progress, but it is profitable.
In one case, a passenger sucessfully murdered an entire planeload. AK-259 came awfully close last year to another of those (hushed up by the Seattle FAA). The Japanese had a captain killed by a sky-rager. A passenger was murdered by an over-zealous bunch of pax in SLC (hushed up by the Seattle FAA).
Assertive measures need to be taken to prevent this kind of stuff. Passenger screening and monitoring is FREE - where is the effort????
Thank God the crews are at least diverting.
The maddening part is that the same screening / monitoring serves as an anti-terrorist measure & vice versa. This isn't rocket science.
The moral of this lesson in the U.S. is that not even tombstones will motivate the FAA, anymore.
Flying is disproportionately safe. At least something is being done about that, after all these years. It may not be progress, but it is profitable.
Guest
Posts: n/a
But the bottom line with many of these incidents is nicotine addiction. For most smokers alcohol induces the desire to light up even more. Imprisoned for long hours in a tube does nothing to help these poor addicts. It won't stop others. Why? Because I'm certain that none of these air rage perpetrators boarded their aircraft with the intention of causing trouble. Ten years in jail isn't the solution. Smoking areas on longhaul flights could be. P.S. I'm a non smoker.
Guest
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As the United Captain of that flight I'd just like to say that I had three more cocktails that the chicks in 32 A and B, I swated the Purser for forgetting my lunch roll and had a smoke in the toilet and I didn't get in trouble! The reason being? Well we've never heard of the customer being right at United.
Guest
Posts: n/a
Avman,
What a breath of fresh air
Nice to see a non-smoker who appreciates the additional stress suffered by heavy smokers when not allowed to indulge their addiction.
It wouldn't make me go to the lengths these silly moos did, but I certainly get a little stressed when I have to do a long sector withou my fags - especially after a couple of hours in a non-smoking airport and another hour to look forward to at the destination as there's never any smoking areas in baggage reclaim!
------------------
What goes around . . .
. . often lands better!
What a breath of fresh air
Nice to see a non-smoker who appreciates the additional stress suffered by heavy smokers when not allowed to indulge their addiction.
It wouldn't make me go to the lengths these silly moos did, but I certainly get a little stressed when I have to do a long sector withou my fags - especially after a couple of hours in a non-smoking airport and another hour to look forward to at the destination as there's never any smoking areas in baggage reclaim!
------------------
What goes around . . .
. . often lands better!
Guest
Posts: n/a
I agree with Avman and Ex-sim - anyone who smokes finds doing without for more than, say, 4 hours, extremely difficult and reason starts to go out of the window. Smoking should NOT be banned on long-haul flights (I am also a non-smoker). Incidentally, I've found the air quality better on the non-smoking flights I've been on - there seems to be a greater quantity of fresh air being sent into the cabin to combat the cigarette smoke.
As for alcohol, I agree that more steps should be taken to identify drunken passengers and potential troublemakers before they get on the flight. But as one of the vast majority who reacts to one extra drink by sleeping like a baby for the rest of the flight, I agree that the minority shouldn't be allowed to spoil it for the rest of us. A blanket ban on alcohol is not the answer.
As for alcohol, I agree that more steps should be taken to identify drunken passengers and potential troublemakers before they get on the flight. But as one of the vast majority who reacts to one extra drink by sleeping like a baby for the rest of the flight, I agree that the minority shouldn't be allowed to spoil it for the rest of us. A blanket ban on alcohol is not the answer.
Guest
Posts: n/a
If Avman is correct, then rather than having those nasty smoking areas in the cabin, perhaps the flight attendants should hand out patches with the G&T’s. Cheaper than diverting an aircraft and more acceptable to the non smokers among us.
Comments……….
Comments……….
Guest
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GOLLYGREENGIANT -
There might be a viable idea there. The design would be damned expensive (enclosure, evacuation provisions, effective isolation / ventilation, etc), but even though I'm a non-smoker, I'd say that's actually a terrific idea for long-haul flights on jumbos.
Good thinking. No doubt they'd be forced to buy airline cigarettes.
Alas reality - "...Ladies and Gentlemen, if anyone experiences a nicotine problem, we do carry nicotine tablets, provided for a nominal charge. Again, smoking aboard an aircraft is a Federal offense."
There might be a viable idea there. The design would be damned expensive (enclosure, evacuation provisions, effective isolation / ventilation, etc), but even though I'm a non-smoker, I'd say that's actually a terrific idea for long-haul flights on jumbos.
Good thinking. No doubt they'd be forced to buy airline cigarettes.
Alas reality - "...Ladies and Gentlemen, if anyone experiences a nicotine problem, we do carry nicotine tablets, provided for a nominal charge. Again, smoking aboard an aircraft is a Federal offense."
Guest
Posts: n/a
A recent United air-rage incident resulted in the perpetrator having to pay the expenses incurred for the aircraft diverting to Anchorage (estimated at up to $64,000). Perhaps the same penalty awaits this pair.
Anchorage truly seems to have become the air-rage capital of the world, as all those overheading aircraft keep dropping in to dump off the unruly. Good for business at the airport though!
Air rage suspect's release denied
RULING: Twin can be freed only to a court-approved custodian.
By Molly Brown
Anchorage Daily News
(Published April 27, 2001)
A federal magistrate Thursday refused to release one of the twin sisters accused of interfering with the crew of a United Airlines flight bound for Shanghai and continued bail hearings for both women.
U.S. Magistrate John Roberts said Crystal Mikula, the 22-year-old woman accused of putting a flight attendant in a chokehold, needs a court-approved custodian because she has no means to support herself, little money, no ties to Alaska and a criminal record in Michigan.
"Otherwise, she might as well be living at a hotel down the street and somebody else could pay the tab," Roberts said.
Following Roberts' decision, attorneys asked that Crystal Mikula's detention hearing be continued until today and that Cynthia Mikula's hearing be scheduled for Tuesday. After the hearing both women returned to jail for a seventh day, an ocean away from the international modeling competition they were scheduled to be in.
Ray Brown, representing Cynthia Mikula, said after the hearing it is possible that one or both of the twins' parents -- who took out a second mortgage on their house to make their daughters' modeling career possible -- would come to Anchorage if the court accepts them as custodians.
Brown told Roberts that Cynthia Mikula has pain and numbness in one of her wrists and may have a nerve injury. Attorneys had suggested Wednesday that the plastic restraints used around her ankles and wrists were attached too tightly.
Mary Geddes, Crystal Mikula's attorney, said she might be able to find a custodian for her client by today.
Assistant U.S. attorney Charlie Brown asked Roberts to hold Crystal Mikula in jail because she has no ties to the community, no local "kin" and is accused of a serious crime.
"This young lady has some anger control issues and maybe some alcohol issues," he said.
Geddes told Roberts that if Crystal Mikula were released, she would stay in a residence or hostel within a quarter-mile of the federal courthouse. She would check in with authorities twice daily and could be screened for drug and alcohol use, the attorney said, adding that her parents would pay the bill.
Geddes argued that Crystal Mikula is not dangerous. "At worst what she did was attempt to interrupt when her sister was apparently in a lot of pain," the attorney said.
The hearing was postponed before attorneys addressed Cynthia Mikula's detention status.
The twins, from Buckley, Mich., landed in Anchorage after an airborne brawl on a flight from San Francisco to Shanghai. The ruckus started with the twins swearing at each other and reached a crescendo with Cynthia Mikula being placed in plastic restraints while Crystal Mikula put a flight attendant in a chokehold, according to the FBI. Cynthia Mikula bloodied a flight attendant's nose, hit other crew members, and both women attempted to smoke in the airplane's lavatory, the FBI said.
They are each charged with interfering with a flight crew, a felony that carries up to 20 years in prison and as much as a $250,000 fine.
The Detroit Free Press reported Thursday that the twins won an all-expenses paid trip to the Shanghai fashion expo at a Los Angeles modeling and talent competition.
They wowed Asian modeling firms and received 13 calls, the best the $7,000 trip to Shanghai that came with spending money, clothes, and hotel accommodations, the newspaper said.
Top prize was $8,000 and tons of exposure, the story said.
Charles Nemes, the owner of a Michigan modeling school, told the Free Press he discovered the sisters five years ago. "They had their foot in the door and that's what everybody wants in this business," Nemes told the newspaper.
Buckley, where the Mikulas live, is a town of 550 people. According to the Free Press, the sisters have been in trouble for traffic violations and for possession of alcohol as minors. The story said both spent 21 days in jail in 1996 for shoplifting.
The trip to California in January was their first on an airplane.
The newspaper said the sisters called their mother six times during the rowdy, aborted flight to China last week. During the last call, their mother, Vicky, said she heard Cynthia screaming that the flight crew was trying to kill her, the newspaper said.
Their father, Joseph Mikula, said his daughters had dreamed of becoming international models. He told the Free Press that he would sell everything he has to help the twins but that he was concerned about their trip to Asia.
"I was worried about them being in China," he said. "It could be that this is a blessing in disguise."
Anchorage truly seems to have become the air-rage capital of the world, as all those overheading aircraft keep dropping in to dump off the unruly. Good for business at the airport though!
Air rage suspect's release denied
RULING: Twin can be freed only to a court-approved custodian.
By Molly Brown
Anchorage Daily News
(Published April 27, 2001)
A federal magistrate Thursday refused to release one of the twin sisters accused of interfering with the crew of a United Airlines flight bound for Shanghai and continued bail hearings for both women.
U.S. Magistrate John Roberts said Crystal Mikula, the 22-year-old woman accused of putting a flight attendant in a chokehold, needs a court-approved custodian because she has no means to support herself, little money, no ties to Alaska and a criminal record in Michigan.
"Otherwise, she might as well be living at a hotel down the street and somebody else could pay the tab," Roberts said.
Following Roberts' decision, attorneys asked that Crystal Mikula's detention hearing be continued until today and that Cynthia Mikula's hearing be scheduled for Tuesday. After the hearing both women returned to jail for a seventh day, an ocean away from the international modeling competition they were scheduled to be in.
Ray Brown, representing Cynthia Mikula, said after the hearing it is possible that one or both of the twins' parents -- who took out a second mortgage on their house to make their daughters' modeling career possible -- would come to Anchorage if the court accepts them as custodians.
Brown told Roberts that Cynthia Mikula has pain and numbness in one of her wrists and may have a nerve injury. Attorneys had suggested Wednesday that the plastic restraints used around her ankles and wrists were attached too tightly.
Mary Geddes, Crystal Mikula's attorney, said she might be able to find a custodian for her client by today.
Assistant U.S. attorney Charlie Brown asked Roberts to hold Crystal Mikula in jail because she has no ties to the community, no local "kin" and is accused of a serious crime.
"This young lady has some anger control issues and maybe some alcohol issues," he said.
Geddes told Roberts that if Crystal Mikula were released, she would stay in a residence or hostel within a quarter-mile of the federal courthouse. She would check in with authorities twice daily and could be screened for drug and alcohol use, the attorney said, adding that her parents would pay the bill.
Geddes argued that Crystal Mikula is not dangerous. "At worst what she did was attempt to interrupt when her sister was apparently in a lot of pain," the attorney said.
The hearing was postponed before attorneys addressed Cynthia Mikula's detention status.
The twins, from Buckley, Mich., landed in Anchorage after an airborne brawl on a flight from San Francisco to Shanghai. The ruckus started with the twins swearing at each other and reached a crescendo with Cynthia Mikula being placed in plastic restraints while Crystal Mikula put a flight attendant in a chokehold, according to the FBI. Cynthia Mikula bloodied a flight attendant's nose, hit other crew members, and both women attempted to smoke in the airplane's lavatory, the FBI said.
They are each charged with interfering with a flight crew, a felony that carries up to 20 years in prison and as much as a $250,000 fine.
The Detroit Free Press reported Thursday that the twins won an all-expenses paid trip to the Shanghai fashion expo at a Los Angeles modeling and talent competition.
They wowed Asian modeling firms and received 13 calls, the best the $7,000 trip to Shanghai that came with spending money, clothes, and hotel accommodations, the newspaper said.
Top prize was $8,000 and tons of exposure, the story said.
Charles Nemes, the owner of a Michigan modeling school, told the Free Press he discovered the sisters five years ago. "They had their foot in the door and that's what everybody wants in this business," Nemes told the newspaper.
Buckley, where the Mikulas live, is a town of 550 people. According to the Free Press, the sisters have been in trouble for traffic violations and for possession of alcohol as minors. The story said both spent 21 days in jail in 1996 for shoplifting.
The trip to California in January was their first on an airplane.
The newspaper said the sisters called their mother six times during the rowdy, aborted flight to China last week. During the last call, their mother, Vicky, said she heard Cynthia screaming that the flight crew was trying to kill her, the newspaper said.
Their father, Joseph Mikula, said his daughters had dreamed of becoming international models. He told the Free Press that he would sell everything he has to help the twins but that he was concerned about their trip to Asia.
"I was worried about them being in China," he said. "It could be that this is a blessing in disguise."