Posted on 11/21/2005 8:11:40 AM PST by aculeus
A French woman has admitted attempting to open an aeroplane door mid-flight so that she could smoke a cigarette.
Sandrine Helene Sellies, 34, who has a fear of flying, had drunk alcohol and taken sleeping tablets ahead of the flight from Hong Kong to Brisbane.
She was seen on the Cathay Pacific plane walking towards a door with an unlit cigarette and a lighter.
She then began tampering with the emergency exit until she was stopped by a flight attendant.
Defence lawyer Helen Shilton said her client had no memory of what had happened on the flight on Saturday, and that she had a history of sleepwalking.
She pleaded guilty to endangering the safety of an aircraft at Brisbane Magistrates Court and was given a 12-month A$1,000 (£429) good behaviour bond - she will forfeit the money if she commits another offence.
The French tourist was at the start of a three-week holiday in Australia with her husband.
© BBC MMV
Wow, the French airlines must have a VERY stringent no-smoking policy.
ping
I hope this woman never boards a submarine.
"And, please, if you're making a habit of sitting by it, study its features, fixtures and fittings in case you are ever required to operate it."
I was on a flight from Des Moines to Austin trying to beat out a snow storm one evening. A flight attendant asked an elderly woman if she felt comforable operating the emergency door she was sitting next to. Through broken english and after several repetitions, the flight attendant finally understood what she was saying, "I won't open the door. I am too old to worry about trying to survive a crash." The flight was delayed for probably five minutes longer while they tried to convince here that she had to trade places with someone on the flight that could and WOULD operate the door. The man next to me suggested she be moved to the back of the plane so as not to get in anyone's way in the event that we do have to evacuate in a hurry.
I wonder if she was blond.
LOL, I think I'll pass on asking that too.
Thank you.
The only things more dangerous than smokers are SUVs. They both KIIIIIIILL!!
How did D.B. Cooper do it then?
A candidate for the Darwin Award.
IIRC he had them fly below 10,000 feet and not pressurize the cabin. Of course, I could be wrong, but I think I read that somewhere.
The plane dropped altitude and speed, which decreased differential pressure, so that he could jump out of the aft service entrance (built in ladder). He jumped af a few thousand feet, not the 30,000ft+ that commerical airliners cruise at.
Just a thought -
A French woman? I guess she just surrendered to the urge.
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