Former flight attendant told cabin crew of plans to die before trying to open door

A former flight attendant told cabin crew he wanted to end his life before trying to open the rear door of the aircraft while it was thousands of feet in the air.

 
HIV-positive Joseph Hemmingway, 28, was on a Jet2 flight from Madeira to Newcastle and had been drinking heavily when he started behaving erratically, leaving passengers ‘scared for their lives’.

 
He told airline staff he used to work for British Airways and they were petrified he would succeed in opening the aeroplane’s door because of his aviation knowledge.

 
When he was seen attempting to unlock the door, he was pounced upon by two off-duty police officers, one of whom he tried to bite.

 
The three then remained on the floor of the aircraft as it descended and landed safely.

 
Newcastle Crown Court heard that Hemmingway had started chatting to experienced cabin crew, who ‘had never been as scared and shocked’, about his former work half way through the flight on August 4.

 
Around ten minutes later he approached the rear of the plane and told two female members of the crew that he wanted to move seats as his neighbor were watching a TV show which showed people taking crystal meth.

 
He said this was offending him as his boyfriend had died as a result of taking the drug.

 
Hemmingway then showed the women a letter from his backpack which was addressed to his boyfriend Lee and it said he wanted to ‘join him’.

 
Cabin crew then watched him as he took at least three - possibly even six - Valium tablets.

 
Alarmed, they made the pilot aware that they had a problem with a passenger on board.

 
Hemmingway then got up from his seat and drank from water bottles belonging to the cabin crew.

 
Once handing them back, he told the crew he had AIDS.

 
After trying to get to the cockpit to speak to the pilot, it was then that he started on the plane’s rear door.

 
An off duty police officer returning from a family holiday wrestled him to the ground and restrained him with the help of another male passenger.

 

 

 
Claire Anderson, prosecuting, told the court: ‘This happened with around 15 minutes until landing.

 
‘In high altitudes, it is impossible to open the plane door but the plane was descending and therefore in low altitudes. With his experience, there was a real concern.’

 
Despite the fact that Hemmingway and those who were restraining him were out of their seats, the pilot made the decision to land the plane.

 
Police were waiting on the tarmac and Hemmingway was arrested.

 
Miss Anderson said: ‘Mr Hemmingway admitted that he had drank a litre of beer or wine before boarding and then had drank Prosecco on the plane but denied that this was an excessive amount.

 

 

‘He also denied that he had tried to open the plane door and said that because he had a backpack and was of ethnic appearance, people must have overreacted.’

 
However, on August 18 he pleaded guilty to endangering the safety of an aircraft.

 
Miss Anderson added: ‘In relation to the cabin crew, they all very experienced but they stated that they had never been so scared and shocked.
‘With regard to the civilians, they were terrified. They were scared for their lives.

 
‘The wife of one of the off duty police officers said that it sent shivers down her spine and that it would take a lot of time for her to get her confidence back when it comes to flying.’

 
Charles Knowles, defending, said: ‘There was remorse demonstrated and he has a low risk of future offending.

 
‘It must have been terrifying and there is no way to get away from that.

 
‘The fact that there was no injury caused is a bonus but that does not take away from the fact that passengers and crew would have found this experience frightening.’

 
Mr Knowles said that due to the loss of his partner among other issues such as suffering from AIDS and Asperger’s Syndrome, Hemmingway uses alcohol and drugs as a coping mechanism and that is what caused this meltdown.

 

 

 
Mr Knowles added: ‘He is genuinely remorseful for what he has done and it was totally out of character.

 
Judge Edward Bindloss jailed Hemmingway, of Newcastle, for 18 months.

 

 

He was also ordered to pay £180 court costs and £100 victim surcharge.

 
Judge Bindloss said: ‘The cabin crew have said that this was a harrowing and traumatic experience for them. One said she had never been so scared in her life.

 
‘I have to take into account several things such as the fact that you are HIV positive and attempted to bite people.

 
‘The passengers and crew could not escape you. Flying is stressful enough without this sort of incident for these people returning from their holidays.

 
‘Considering all these matters, it seems to me that an immediate custodial sentence can be justified.’

 

Source: dailymail.co.uk