Not A Joke

[Guest]

http://www.irishtime...plane-1.1983405

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An Italian businessman is to pay €2,500 to charity for making a private joke about the Ebola virus to his daughter on an Aer Lingus flight.

IT company director Roberto Binaschi, who had come to Ireland with his family to attend a conference, told a judge today, “I don’t know how to apologiseâ€.

 

Judge Anthony Halpin said that given the seriousness of the Ebola virus, Mr Binaschi’s prank was a “sick joke†and comparable to a bomb scare. However, he noted that Mr Binaschi was apologetic and had offered to pay €2,500 to charity

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Judge Halpin directed that the money should go to the Capuchin Day Centre, which helps homeless people in inner-city Dublin, and he applied section 1 (1) of the Probation Offenders Act.

 

This means Mr Binaschi, who did not comment after the case, has been spared a criminal record as well as a possible prison term.

At about 1pm yesterday , emergency services including the Garda, Dublin Airport Police and the Health Service Executive (HSE) took action after the alarm was raised on flight EI 433, from Milan to Dublin.

 

A flight attendant had found a cup marked ‘Attenzione Ebola’ and the captain contacted Dublin Airport Authority which immediately initiated emergency protocols.

 

On landing, the plane carrying 142 passengers, was sealed off for just over an hour while medical tests were carried out. After screening it was established that there was no trace of the deadly virus on board.Three passengers, two women aged 51 and 23, and the 56-year-old man were arrested and brought to Ballymun Garda station. The two women were later released without charge but Mr Binaschi, from Corso Argentina, Vigeavano, near Milan, in northern Italy, was held overnight and brought before Dublin District Court this morning.

 

The 56-year-old pleaded guilty to engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour on an aeroplane contrary to the Air Navigation and Transport Act. Judge Halpin was told that Mr Binaschi had taken a sip from his daughter’s cup about 20 minutes before landing. “After taking a drink, he then wrote ‘attenzione Ebola’ on the lid and handed it to his daughter.†She finished the drink and the cup was then dumped.

On arrest, he immediately admitted he had been joking with his daughter when he wrote the words and he expressed regret for the disturbance.

Defence solicitor Michelle Finan said her client was a company director who had come to Dublin for a business conference; he was a man of good standing who trades with Ireland and hopes to “create jobsâ€.

 

She said that the offence was “skirting on the reckless endâ€. Pleading with the court to spare him a criminal record, she told Judge Halpin that her client’s business friends had collected €2,500 to be donated to charity.

[TroyinEwa/Perv]

Would it not make more sense to put that money towards the issue he "joked" about rather than something completely different?? And more, it appears he never paid a charity, his business friends did. Wowza.......

[Coss]

But then, what censorship level is appropriate on aeroplanes?

 

If I am reading an article about a terrorist group, on an iPad, whilst travelling on an aeroplane, do they panic and do an emergency landing?

 

If I talk about Volcanic Eruptions? Slavery? World War II? Branson's space ship crash? A friend's epileptic fit?

 

Where does it end?

[TroyinEwa/Perv]

I worked for an airline for a number of years. No offense to any flight staff here but they are not the brightest bulbs in the lot. Common sense should dictate your issue but many of them lack that quality.

[Coss]

I am surprised, that multiple planes have not been diverted and made emergency landings, on the strength of my post above.

[Specialist]

Alohameansgoodbye, flight crews vary.

 

I have absolutely NOTHING but good things to say about JAL and Cathay Pacific crews.

 

AA's international Business Class crews, at least on transPac hops, are generally good. (I have only very limited experience with AA for transAtlantic, and that one flight was in Business Class.)

 

AA's coach crews, especially on transPac hops, tend to leave quite a bit to be desired, ESPECIALLY when compared to JAL or CX.

[TroyinEwa/Perv]

I am speaking from my own experience over 3 decades of working with flight crews. Your experiences may vary.