Muhammad Abu Tahir of Glen Allen, Virginia, gets three months in the pokey for the shenanigans he pulled after getting blitzed January 8th, 2010 on AirTran Airways flight 39 from Atlanta, Georgia to San Francisco, California.
Abu Tahir was unhappy when a flight attendant cut off his wine supply after he downed five bottles during the flight. After yelling at the flight attendants he stormed into the bathroom. The crew waited a bit for Tahir to “finish up” and then knocked on the door. That earned the flight crew more yelling and accusations by Tahir the stew was not respecting him.
The crew left Abu Tahir to do whatever it was he wanted to do. Sometime later, they came back to encourage Tahir to give up his seat in the lavatory. Tahir opened the door and grabbed the arms of the stew and began pulling her. A male passenger came to the rescue ordering Tahir not to touch the stewardess. Tahir gave up his tug of war and ducked back into the toilet, locking the door.
The pilot was notified. A decision was made to divert to Colorado Springs, Colorado. Two F-16s were called to escort the plane to the tarmac. The passengers were de-planed and interviewed during their 3.5 hour unexpected layover. Meanwhile, Colorado Springs Police Department extricated Tahir from the “throne” and arrested him.
Muhammad Abu Tahir claims he has no memory of tugging on the arms of the stewardess. There are two messages here. First, ‘don’t drink and fly’! Second, ‘Don’t touch the stew’!
In addition to giving Tahir three months in federal prison, Judge Blackburn ordered him to reimburse AirTran $14,584. That is an expensive glass of wine!
“Today’s sentencing demonstrates that there are serious consequences to interfering with the duties of a flight crew,” said U.S. Attorney David Gaouette. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kasandra Carleton and Mark Barrett prosecuted the case.
Muhammad Abu Tahir found himself in hot water after interfering with a flight crew on AirTran Airways flight 39 from Atlanta, Georgia, to San Francisco. A well prepared police response in Colorado Springs along with a generous judge left Tahir in a lot better shape than he could have been!
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