A MAN has been sentenced to two months in jail for causing "pandemonium" on an Aer Lingus flight when he falsely announced that he had coronavirus.
30-year-old Dutch man Jobv van den Broek admitted to an air rage charge causing havoc and delaying a flight to Dublin from Amsterdam, RTÉ reports.
Van den Broek was allegedly to catch a connecting flight from Dublin to Los Angeles where he planned to propose to his girlfriend, but the plane had not even left the terminal in Amsterdam when he began causing trouble.
According to RTÉ, van den Broek refused to get off his mobile phone when air cabin crew were attempting to give the flight safety demonstration, was rude and aggressive and later falsely told crew that he was on the phone with his mother who had a confirmed case of coronavirus.
Van den Broek said he had been in close contact with her but refused to confirm or deny if he himself had the virus.
The hoax caused pandemonium on the flight, with passengers thrown into panic and air cabin crew reduced to tears by his actions.
The flight was quarantined and inspected by the HSE once it landed in Dublin, and van den Broek was met by Gardaí and escorted off the plane.
Despite showing remorse, apologising and offering to make a charitable donation to the crew, he was told by the judge he could not buy his way out of trouble and he was sentenced to two months for causing panic when the world is so fearful over the spread of the new virus.
Despite being sentenced to two months, Jobk can den Broek walked free from court after being granted bail pending an appeal.
