A passenger who forced a Jet2 plane to be diverted after she launched into a furious rant has apologsied for her "vile behaviour" as she's banned for life and slapped with a £5,000 fine.
Catherine Bush said she wanted to "apologise from the bottom of my heart" after a video surfaced online of her screaming and shouting on board the flight from Manchester to Turkey. The flight was forced to divert to Vienna so Catherine could be booted off.
Describing her behaviour as "aggressive and vile", the passenger from West Yorkshire said feels "so ashamed" in a lenghty email to Jet2 which she shared with Yorkshire Live. She admitted she drank alcohol to calm her nerves but became so intoxicated on the flight that she couldn't control herself.
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She said she was nervous due to not having her prescribed medication and denied claims that she had tried to open the plane door and struck passengers. She wrote: "I would firstly like to extend my deepest apologies to you, your airline and the passengers on the LS895 flight for my unruly, aggressive and vile behaviour. I am so ashamed of myself for conducting myself in that manner."
She added: "There will never be an excuse to justify what happened and I wholeheartedly hold my hands up and take full responsibility for my actions. I know it is no excuse, but I do suffer with severe mental health issues, I have anxiety, depression and a personality disorder.
"The disorder makes it very difficult for me to regulate myself, my emotions and mood. I currently take anti psychotic medication for this but unfortunately my doctor wasn't able to get my prescription ready before I was due to fly, so regrettably I made the decision to travel without them."
Catherine says she had never flown alone before adding: "I had never flown by myself either and was supposed to be having a friend fly with me that day but due to Covid a day before we were due to fly they had to cancel. I then made the disastrous decision to go alone which I now realise was the wrong thing to do."
Catherine said she felt very anxious at Manchester Airport and decided to have a drink. She said: "I was extremely anxious in Manchester Airport so I decided to have an alcoholic drink to calm my nerves, I don't usually drink alcohol because of my mental state but with me not having any medication I genuinely thought it would help me through the flight.
"This I now realise to be a huge and life-changing mistake. I took alcohol on board the aircraft when I knew I shouldn't have, I became so intoxicated I couldn't control myself. I struggle to control myself the majority of the time so alcohol intensified this massively.
"The stewardess rightly confiscated my alcohol which was not a problem, but after I asked staff for a bottle of water and was refused and unfortunately my anger got the better of me.
"When I also asked for food and again was refused my anger really took hold and I started to raise my voice and get out of my seat. At this point, all the passengers were focused on me and my behaviour, which just made my mental state worse.
"I just wanted to get out of the situation and there was nowhere to go, however, I certainly didn't try an open the aircraft door and endanger other passengers.
"At home, I cannot travel on public transport due to my mental illness as I feel trapped and scared. The whole situation was very distressing for me causing me to behave erratically and out of character.
"Members of staff were then grabbing my arms to calm me down, but unfortunately it just escalated the problem as I was in an abusive relationship for 10 years and anyone touching me triggers my mental health.
"However, I didn't put my hands on anyone on that flight, I have three people who were on the flight that can bear witness to the fact that I didn't physically hurt any passengers or staff."
Catherine added: "I would like to reiterate that this will never justify my actions on board that aircraft but I felt I had to let you know how difficult it is for me to do the most simple of tasks, things ordinary people take for granted.
"I have received so much hate, abuse and harassment since this incident happened through social media platforms that it is having a negative impact on my mental state. I am again feeling suicidal and overwhelmed by the whole situation.
"I am so embarrassed and ashamed with myself it's becoming too much to bear but at least I'm in good hands with some friends here, who are making me feel a bit better about the whole situation. Again, I apologise from the bottom of my heart that I caused so many people distress."
