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Europe
Bureaucrat held over fracas on plane
2005-02-21
A senior foreign bureaucrat has been arrested for drunkenness and suspicion of sexual assault on a flight to London. The man was questioned by police after allegedly attempting to grope a female passenger and exposing himself to cabin crew. Other passengers claimed he had consumed "vast quantities" of duty-free alcohol. One female passenger had to be moved from her seat and upgraded to business class after she claimed the man attempted to fondle her. Passengers on the Virgin Atlantic flight, including a party of schoolchildren, watched as cabin crew were forced to grapple with the 55-year-old and escort him to the lavatory, where he is then alleged to have exposed himself.
"Thish ish my doinker, girliesh! [Hic!]"
Problems on Virgin flight VS22 began barely an hour into the 6 hour and 40 minute journey from Washington to London after the man began drinking alcohol he had carried on to the aircraft. Part of the flight's passengers included a group of students from Oundle School, returning from a field trip. "He started digging into his duty-free and power drinking as soon as we took off," said fellow passenger Douglas Robb, 34, a politics master at the £20,000 a-year school. "As time wore on, he became very chatty with a woman seated next to him. Soon he became very tactile, groping her hand. He told her who he was and began flashing his business card and saying that she should come and visit him in his country. She wasn't exactly welcoming the attention. Then he groped her chest. She shrieked and cabin crew intervened."
"Sir! Let go of the booby! Drop it now!"
Cabin crew admonished the man for his behaviour, with one allegedly telling him that he was a "naughty man and Allah would be cross".
Doesn't say that he's a Moose limb, but we can prob'ly guess he is...
A police spokesman said: "We can confirm a 55-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of being drunk on an aircraft and sexual assault."
Posted by:Fred

#13  .com gald to see you perused the photos I pointed you to. Rantburg could get interesting in the comming days...
PS. You reminded me. I need to check out today's photo.
Posted by: 3dc   2005-02-21 4:31:47 PM  

#12  LOL AC!
Posted by: Shipman   2005-02-21 8:52:41 AM  

#11  Sorry for the double post.

I forgot that's the Lubbock INTERNATIONAL Airport, given this designation because it has a port of entry for flights from Mexico.
The terminal is built in the run-down Morroccan fortress style of many public buildings in this area and looks like a munitions bunker from a distance. Actually, it looks like a munitions bunker close up, too. It is severely under-utilized because it was planned in the 70s on the basis of wildly optimistic growth forecasts from the booster club of that era.
It seems to be under construction all the time in spite of the vast empty spaces and the surplus gates. I suspect this is because local boosters noticed that all big airports, like LAX and DFW, seem to have some kind of irritating renovation going on all the time. Inconveniencing the public with construction work is therefore part of the "big airport" image they seek to promote.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy   2005-02-21 8:22:02 AM  

#10  I feel a rant coming on. See "Opinion"
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy   2005-02-21 7:51:11 AM  

#9  I feel a rant coming on. See "Opinion"
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy   2005-02-21 7:50:49 AM  

#8  Chuck,
That's a British Aerospace 146. It was designed for service into austere airports that had previously only been accessible to turboprops.
Aspen Airways used them at one time, but I don't know if they still do, and they are fairly common in Alaska.
Back in the mid-80s, when the 146 was brand-new, I went to the Lubbock airport to pick up a friend who was flying in from Denver. The jetways wouldn't match the 146's doors of course so they rolled out a ramp-stair to debark the passengers. As we were watching from the terminal, a college-age sputter-mouth next to us commented authoritatively to his friends, "That's gotta' be an OLD plane, you just don't see that anymore. It must really be really old." In fact, it was far and away the newest plane in sight, and the newest type. Probably one of the same shitheads who asserted that the Chinese couldn't put a man in space because "they don't have the technology."

Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy   2005-02-21 7:37:00 AM  

#7  ...escort him to the lavatory, where he is then alleged to have exposed himself.

Expose himself? Was he wearing a trench-coat too?

Posted by: BigEd   2005-02-21 7:18:22 AM  

#6  Chuck - Don't know the cratf (guessing a Fokker?) but it does look like a right little goer.
Posted by: Bulldog   2005-02-21 4:55:19 AM  

#5  Hey .com,
What aircraft is the "Slut"?
I ask because it appears to be a small airplane but with 4 engines.
Posted by: Chuck   2005-02-21 4:48:45 AM  

#4  LOL! I bet it would be a very popular airline!
Posted by: 2b   2005-02-21 2:57:03 AM  

#3  Virgin Airlines. Heh.
Posted by: .com   2005-02-21 2:53:20 AM  

#2  a naughty man and Allah would be cross". LOL! Was he in kindergarten? Oh no wait...
Douglas Robb, 34

Man, If I was on that flight and he was sporting entire bolts of fabric, with a tablecloth on his head, I'd be freaking out wondering if it was some sort of diversionary tactic while his buddy's unsheath their razor blades...cause I hate to fly anyway and besides weather, the engines falling off or a bolt coming loose somewhere, the Mad Muslim syndrome is just one more thing I've got to worry about.
Posted by: 2b   2005-02-21 2:43:47 AM  

#1  "Come with me to the Casbah."
Posted by: mojo   2005-02-21 12:29:49 AM  

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