DRUNK IN THE AIR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 June 1938, Page 8

DRUNK IN THE AIR

FIRST CASE OF ITS KIND BEFORE COURT —4 OFFENCE THAT IS REGARDED VERY SERIOUSLY MAN ESCAPES WITH FINE (By Telegraph—Press Association.) NELSON. June 21. What was probably the first case under the Air Navigation Act of a passenger being drunk in an aeroplane was before the Magistrate’s Court this morning, when a passenger on Cook Straight Airways was fined £5, in default seven days’ imprisonment. The charge was, that, being a passenger in a Cook Strait Airways plane, he was in a state of intoxication in an aircraft. He was also charged with being drunk in a public place, and on this charge was convicted and discharged. Senior-Sergeant Petersen said defendant joined the aeroplane at Greymouth and on the way up he was seen drinking from a flask of whisky. On arrival at Stoke, he was in a state of drunkenness. The offence was regarded seriously and defendant was liable to six months’ imprisonment or a fine of £2OO, or both. The magistrate said he believed the carrying of liquor in planes was prohibited. The Senior-Sergeant pointed out that it might have caused a serious accident. Defendant said he was sober when he went on the plane. The magistrate remarked that that was worse, for if he had been drunk before, he would not have been allowed on. “The defendant was so drunk that he had to be assisted out of the plane,” said the Senior-Sergeant. The magistrate said he thought it was a case for gaol, but he decided to impose a fine as stated.