Michaela Hawes forced a Jet2 flight bound for Dalaman in Turkey to land in Germany after she called a cabin crew member ‘a c**’ and branded the captain ‘a scumbag’
A drunk lout who was part of a family that forced a holiday flight from Edinburgh to Turkey to be diverted has been told she caused passengers and crew “a great deal of alarm and distress”.
Michaela Hawes boarded the Jet 2 flight after drinking alcohol and was seen acting in an “agitated manner” before calling a cabin crew member “a c**” and branding the captain ” a scumbag”. The plane was diverted from its destination to Dalaman in Turkey and was forced to land in Germany where 36-year-old Hawes was escorted from the flight by police officers.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the plane was subsequently delayed for three hours and the crew had all overrun their allowed flight times due to the drunken behaviour.
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Jet 2 was also heavily out of pocket after the airline had to pay for a hotel for hundreds of passengers who were due to return home from Turkey on the plane later that night. The court was told the delayed flight eventually landed back in Edinburgh 16 hours late the following day.
Hawes was later arrested and pleaded guilty to an amended charge of acting in an aggressive manner on the aircraft on October 8, 2024 when she appeared at the capital’s sheriff court last year. She returned to the dock for sentencing today where defence lawyer James McMacken said his client is a mother of two and is “extremely remorseful” for her part in the disturbance.
Mr McMacken said Hawes, from Dundee, had booked the holiday and other family members who caused most of the disturbance had later joined them on the flight. Fiscal depute Chelsea Martin told the court the flight took off from Edinburgh Airport and was packed with “families and children” at around 2.30pm on October 8, 2024.
Ms Martin said Hawes seen to be “a bit tipsy” while boarding the craft and was said to “unsteady on her feet” and cabin crew had to inform the family members to “tone down the noise”. Hawes was seen “swearing and acting in an unruly manner” during the flight and the captain took the decision to divert the aircraft due to the behaviour of the other family members.
Police officers boarded the plane after landing in Cologne and during a row with a family member Hawes shouted and swore and was heard calling a cabin crew member “a c**” and told the pilot he was “a scumbag”. Ms Martin said: “As a result passengers became uncomfortable and the police returned to remove the accused from the flight.”
Sheriff Frank Gill said Hawes’ behaviour had caused passengers and crew “a great deal of alarm and distress” and it would have been “a frightening experience for everyone on board”. Sheriff Gill sentenced Hawes to a six month supervision order and a restriction of liberty order where she must stay within her home between 7pm and 7am for five months.
She must also attend an alcohol misuse service for women as part of a conduct requirement. Co-accused Courtney Maich and Alannah O’Neill, both from Dundee, were both sentenced for their part in the drunken incident in September last year. Maich and O’Neill, 29, were placed on a supervision order, told to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work and ordered to stay at home between 8pm and 7am, Maich for four months and O’Neill for three.
Maich, 27, was also ordered to pay £200 in compensation for spitting on a fellow passenger as she was being led off the flight by German police officers. The court previously heard Jet 2 had to pay out £27,370.53 to put passengers and staff up in a hotel overnight and the airline has served a civil action on Maich and O’Neill in an attempt to recoup the losses.
