Bridget Hanley, 34, forced TUI flight to land thousands of miles from its destination after lashing out in a boozed-up rampage
A SOZZLED woman who lunged at a passenger on a flight to Cancun forcing the pilot to land 2,000 miles away has been jailed for 20 days in Canada.
Bridget Hanley binged on gin and tonic, champagne and wine en route to the Mexican resort.
When a fellow traveller asked her to stop slamming her tray, Hanley replied: “Shut up, ugly face. Who are you to tell me what to do?”
She threatened to throw them out of the plane and lunged at a crew member from holiday firm TUI.
Passengers including a former rugby player and off-duty cop restrained her while the flight from Manchester diverted to Quebec City, Canada.
Pilots were forced to land in Quebec City — more than 3,000 miles away — where the 34-year-old was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace, mischief, and jeopardising the safety of an aircraft.
A spokesman for Sûreté du Québec, the mainly French-speaking province’s police department, said the airline also intends to file a civil lawsuit against her.
A former rugby player and a police officer helped to detain Hanley following the violent outburst on Sunday, it was claimed.
A police statement at the time of Hanley's arrest said: "During the flight this individual was under the influence of alcohol and involved in an altercation with another passenger as well as a flight-crew member.
"However no one was injured during this incident.”
A TUI spokesman said the flight arrived in the Mexican resort later in the day.
He added: “We are sorry for any inconvenience caused to customers on flight TOM182 from Manchester to Cancun, which diverted to Quebec due to a disruptive passenger on board.
"The safety of customers and crew is our priority at all times and we operate a zero tolerance policy on any behaviour of this kind.
“We appreciate the patience and understanding of customers affected by the diversion.
“Following this, we can confirm the flight has arrived safely in Cancun.
"We would like to reassure everyone that incidents of this nature are extremely rare.”
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