by Donald Wood
Last updated: 12:05 PM ET, Thu August 31, 2017
A federal judge has ruled that a disruptive passenger who forced his flight to make an emergency landing last year must pay the airline nearly $100,000 in restitution.
According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, New Jersey resident James August was drunk on a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Honolulu to New York in November 2016 when he became verbally abusive to his girlfriend, her children and other passengers on the plane.
August also slapped a flight attendant on the shoulder but does not remember the incident due to being under the influence of alcohol. The plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, where police were waiting to place him under arrest.
In court, August pled guilty to interfering with flight crew members and attendants. He was sentenced to three months of probation in June.
[READMORE]READ MORE: Drunk Man Diverts Airliner in Mexico[/READMORE]
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway ordered August to pay Hawaiian Airlines $97,817 as a result of the incident, citing the cost for the carrier to divert the flight, including fuel, maintenance, ground crew, replacement flight crew, landing fee and re-catering.
The restitution judgment did not include $46,900 in meal vouchers Hawaiian Airlines awarded to impacted passengers.
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