Four men on a stag party to Las Vegas have been jailed after getting drunk and fighting, forcing a Thomas Cook flight to be diverted to Canada.
Manchester Crown Court heard the group fought each other and dropped their trousers during a flight branded “eight hours of pure hell”.
Two of the group attempted to lift the skirt of a member of the cabin crew, The Mirror reported.
Airline staff had to confiscate five litres of alcohol from the men during the flight from Manchester airport on March 24.
The pilot eventually had to make an unscheduled stop at the Canadian province of Winnipeg – 1,600 miles away from Las Vegas – to eject the unruly group.
The aircraft had to dump 10,000kg of fuel as a result and the remainder of 316 passengers on board including 12 children had to wait almost three hours before the aircraft took off again to complete its journey.
The airline were left with a bill of £29,182 – including the cost of paying for return flights back to the UK for five of the group.
The case was heard the day that airlines backed calls from the cabin crew union for a government clampdown on alcohol sales to combat drink-fuelled disruption on flights.
Construction boss Michael Ward, 33, and three of his seven-strong group got drunk on rum and vodka during the 8am flight.
Cabin crew member Chloe Chaloner said in a statement: “I confiscated five litres of alcohol and on my break one of them got up and sat opposite me staring constantly and saying: ‘I’m going to ruin your time like you’ve ruined ours.’
“I found them intimidating and aggressive. Whenever one fell asleep the others would punch him hard and they would start fighting each other. When told we were landing one said they had a bomb in the bag.”
They were arrested when they arrived back in the UK.
In interview Ward denied drinking on the aircraft and claimed not to recall bad language or fighting.
Hopwood denied exposing himself and claimed one stewardess had told Ward: “Who would marry you?”
However, Ward, and guests Scott Capper, 32, and Craig Hopwood, 35, all from Oldham, were each jailed for two years after they admitted being drunk on an aircraft and affray.
Daniel Howarth, 35, also from Oldham, was jailed for 19 months after he admitted being drunk on an aircraft and a public order offence.
Judge Hilary Manley told all four men: “You caused your fellow passengers a great deal of upheaval and stress with some of them missing connecting flights.
“It is ironically you were flown home with tickets paid for by Thomas Cook and it may want to look at recouping some of the losses they incurred through the civil courts as a result of this shameful incident.
“Passengers describe a deeply distressing incident and one described it as ‘eight hours of pure hell.’
“One described seeing your boorish behaviour in the restaurant of the departure lounge and was dismayed to realise you would be getting her flight.
“You were drunk before boarding the plane and none of you were in a fit state to be on an airplane.
“You did exactly as you wanted and you interrupted the safety demonstration with your boorish drunken behaviour – drinking rum, vodka and the like that you had bought from duty free.
“I have seen images of the bottles you drank from and there was little left.
“This was an 8am flight and you created a threatening and wholly unsafe situation.
“You were insulting to the crew and you used disgusting and obscene language – a group of large drunken men.
“An experienced crew member said it was the worst behaviour she’s seen in more than 20 years of working. A single unruly drunk can be contained but this is no such case here.
“You ignored all the warnings given to you and you caused fear to passengers and impacted the safety of the aircraft.
“You were still drinking and being abusive towards fellow passengers even as the plane was landing in Winnipeg. This is such a serious example of drunkenness on an aircraft.
“You are all family men with people relying on you but the experience of a drunken group in the confined space of an aircraft for a long haul flight is a truly terrifying one.
“There needs to be a deterrent sentence to such behaviour.”