Man who 'frightened' pilot jailed

A drunken man who caused a pilot to abort a landing just 200 feet from the runway, has been jailed for six months.

Ireneusz Siuta, 24, of Hazel Grove, Wembley, twice undid his seat belt as the easyJet flight from Krakow to Luton was seconds from touching down.

Luton Crown Court heard the pilot abandoned the landing after a public address announcement ordered Siuta to get back into his seat.

Siuta pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to being drunk on an aircraft.

Prosecutor Natalie Carter said Capt Mark Ashford had feared for the safety of Siuta and any other passengers.

'Serious matter'

She said: "To continue with the landing would have endangered the passenger who was standing and anyone in his immediate vicinity."

She said Siuta and three friends had downed vast amounts of alcohol before boarding and while on the flight on 10 January this year and were asked to calm down by the crew.

As the plane came into land Siuta ignored the order to fasten his seat belt and stood up, and Capt Ashford aborted his first landing in more than 15 years flying.

Two of Situa's friends were fined £800 and £500 by Luton magistrates at an earlier hearing.

Alasdair King, defending, said Siuta, who had been home for Christmas, was a nervous flyer who had "got Dutch courage" by drinking before getting on the flight.

Recorder Thomas Linden said: "Being drunk on an aircraft is a serious matter. It is not the same as being drunk on the street."