Drunk passenger forces plane turnaround after slurring insults at crew, threatening to bite officers

Bite or flight?A Jet2 flight was forced to turn around after a drunken passenger named Lewis Howarth staggered about the aisle and called a stewardess a “d—kh—d” for telling him to fasten his seatbelt, among other antics.The details of the rampage came to light in a hearing at the Royal Magistrates Court in Manchester.“I will never understand why people think behavior like this is appropriate.

It never can be justified,” one of the arresting officers named PC Morton told the court, The Cavendish Press reported.The incident occurred on August 29 aboard a flight that was slated to fly from Manchester to Dalaman, Turkey, but had been delayed for 90 minutes, the court heard.Howarth, 36, had been drinking heavily in the departure lounge prior to boarding and his inebriated state set off alarm bells among crewmembers, according to prosecutor Gareth Hughes.Noticing that his seatbelt wasn’t fastened, one stewardess told him to do so, but the Manchester native failed to secure the buckle in his intoxicated state.“He was slurring his words and swearing, he had dilated pupils and his coordination was very poor and he was unable to put a seat belt on,” Hughes told the court.After informing the captain of the incident, the flight attendant continued to speak to the lout.That’s when the situation took a serious nosedive.“He got out of his seat and called her a ‘d—h—d’ and was asked to sit down and told he could be removed,” recounted Hughes, noting that the plane was making its way from the runway to the gate at this point.However, the passenger reportedly stood up and got in her face, at which point the captain decided to return to the gate and have the hooligan removed.When police boarded the plane, they were greeted with applause from grateful passengers, but the ordeal was far from over.At that point, Howarth, who was at the back of the aircraft, stood up only to stumble and immediately have to grab a seat to steady himself.

One of the offic...