$30,000 air-rage compensation!
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$30,000 air-rage compensation!
Unruly flier hit with bill
$30,000 TAB: Judge also gives Chicago man three years' probation.
By Molly Brown
Anchorage Daily News
(Published May 1, 2001)
Steven Tabloff rubbed his hands over his face as a federal magistrate on Monday ordered him to pay $30,000 to United Airlines for serious misbehavior onboard a flight from Chicago to Hong Kong.
It's the one event in his life he wishes he could change, Tabloff said.
On that January flight, Tabloff spit at passengers, screamed obscenities, ripped a telephone from the hands of a flight attendant, refused to follow directions, and threw a liquor bottle -- one of those small ones served in flight -- at a child, authorities said. His conduct forced the flight crew to divert to Anchorage, where they turned him over to federal investigators.
He was originally charged with interfering with a flight crew, a felony that carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. But under a plea agreement, Tabloff pleaded guilty in March to misdemeanor assault.
"It baffles me as to what happened, but it did," Tabloff said Monday, seated next to his attorney.
Tabloff apologized, and through his attorney he said his actions on Flight 895 cost him his job. He was employed by a Hong Kong business and was terminated after the Jan. 9 plane ride. The news media have run wild with the story, he said.
"Well, understand there is a public concern," U.S. Magistrate Harry Branson told Tabloff.
Tabloff is one of several passengers during the past 15 months whose unruly and abusive actions have caused jetliners to make unplanned stops in Anchorage, whose international airport is conveniently located between the Lower 48 and Asia. Diverting the flights is expensive; it sometimes includes hotel bills, unplanned airport landing fees and dumping fuel.
On top of that, nothing is more disturbing than someone losing control thousands of feet in the air, Branson said.
"Sooner or later, airlines will realize they can't serve alcohol and expect this not to happen," the judge said.
Tabloff, through his attorney, offered his own explanation for what happened on Flight 895. He took a drug sample given to him by his physician, which was supposed to help him sleep on the long flight from Chicago to Hong Kong.
The packet contained two pills to be taken at different times during the flight.
Tabloff took them both at the same time; he said the packet did not have instructions. He had a few drinks. He ended up being restrained by four passengers and eventually handcuffed, according to the FBI.
Branson ordered Tabloff to refrain from consuming alcohol and placed him on three years' probation. He was ordered to make payments of $10,000 each year over that time and will have to pay interest.
$30,000 TAB: Judge also gives Chicago man three years' probation.
By Molly Brown
Anchorage Daily News
(Published May 1, 2001)
Steven Tabloff rubbed his hands over his face as a federal magistrate on Monday ordered him to pay $30,000 to United Airlines for serious misbehavior onboard a flight from Chicago to Hong Kong.
It's the one event in his life he wishes he could change, Tabloff said.
On that January flight, Tabloff spit at passengers, screamed obscenities, ripped a telephone from the hands of a flight attendant, refused to follow directions, and threw a liquor bottle -- one of those small ones served in flight -- at a child, authorities said. His conduct forced the flight crew to divert to Anchorage, where they turned him over to federal investigators.
He was originally charged with interfering with a flight crew, a felony that carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. But under a plea agreement, Tabloff pleaded guilty in March to misdemeanor assault.
"It baffles me as to what happened, but it did," Tabloff said Monday, seated next to his attorney.
Tabloff apologized, and through his attorney he said his actions on Flight 895 cost him his job. He was employed by a Hong Kong business and was terminated after the Jan. 9 plane ride. The news media have run wild with the story, he said.
"Well, understand there is a public concern," U.S. Magistrate Harry Branson told Tabloff.
Tabloff is one of several passengers during the past 15 months whose unruly and abusive actions have caused jetliners to make unplanned stops in Anchorage, whose international airport is conveniently located between the Lower 48 and Asia. Diverting the flights is expensive; it sometimes includes hotel bills, unplanned airport landing fees and dumping fuel.
On top of that, nothing is more disturbing than someone losing control thousands of feet in the air, Branson said.
"Sooner or later, airlines will realize they can't serve alcohol and expect this not to happen," the judge said.
Tabloff, through his attorney, offered his own explanation for what happened on Flight 895. He took a drug sample given to him by his physician, which was supposed to help him sleep on the long flight from Chicago to Hong Kong.
The packet contained two pills to be taken at different times during the flight.
Tabloff took them both at the same time; he said the packet did not have instructions. He had a few drinks. He ended up being restrained by four passengers and eventually handcuffed, according to the FBI.
Branson ordered Tabloff to refrain from consuming alcohol and placed him on three years' probation. He was ordered to make payments of $10,000 each year over that time and will have to pay interest.
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Rockytop, Tennessee, USA
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Yep, UAL has had success before in gaining compensation for "air rage".
Here's the infamous case of Gerald Finneran wiping his bottom with the first class linens, also ordered to pay compensation:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/altitude/monday1.html
And another one from the "I'm Irish, I can drink" department:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/usbooze1.shtml
