"his behaviour escalated to become abusive and aggressive"
Kramat Khan, aged 36, of Great Denham, Bedfordshire, was jailed for nine months after he sexually assaulted an air stewardess. The tourist also challenged passengers to a fight.
Luton Crown Court heard he was travelling to Tenerife with easyJet on June 29, 2019.
Khan inappropriately touched the stewardess while she served drinks, however, he claimed it was an accident.
Later, while she was working alone in the galley, he grabbed her from behind in a tight hug and kissed her neck, ignoring her pleas for him to stop.
The tourist also removed his shirt and challenged other passengers to a fight.
Throughout the flight from Luton Airport, Khan repeatedly left his seat, despite requests from the crew and pilot over concerns for the safety and comfort of all passengers on board, not to do so.
A spokesperson for Bedfordshire Police said: “Khan ignored them and his behaviour escalated to become abusive and aggressive towards the crew and the other passengers, demanding a fight and being racially abusive towards members of crew who tried to assist.
“The pilot was forced to request a priority landing in Tenerife.
“However, the crew took the decision to report Khan’s behaviour to police on their return to the UK.
“At Luton Crown Court Khan was sentenced to six months imprisonment for endangering an aircraft.
“For the sexual assault, he was sentenced to a further two months to run concurrently and one month for racially aggravated harassment, also concurrent.”
After sentencing, Sergeant James Hart of Bedfordshire Police’s Airport Policing Unit said:
“Khan’s behaviour posed a serious risk to the crew and passengers and he acted disrespectfully towards a female member of the crew, leaving her shaken and distressed for several days after.
“We are pleased that the severity of his actions have been recognised by the court in the form of a jail term.
“The crew’s primary responsibility is for the safety of the aircraft and its passengers and Khan’s behaviour put that in jeopardy.”
“Abusive and disruptive passengers must expect to be firmly dealt with, and this behaviour is never acceptable, let alone on board an aircraft.”
Head of Security for easyJet Mick Broster said: “Whilst serious disruptive passenger incidents are rare, easyJet will not tolerate them.
“We take them very seriously, always push for prosecution and we fully co-operated with the police during their investigation.”
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