Tue, Nov 22, 2005
Had Taken Sleeping Pills, Alcohol Prior To Incident
A woman flying to Australia with her husband for a
three-week vacation has admitted to trying to open an
emergency door while the airplane was flying 39,000 feet over north
Queensland.
Sandrine Helene Sellies, who has a fear of flying, had taken
sleeping pills and drank alcohol prior to boarding the Cathay
Pacific flight from Hong Kong to Brisbane.
It was in this state the 34-year old French woman walked towards
the emergency door of the aircraft, unlit cigarette in one hand and
a lighter in the other, and tried to open the door.
A flight attendant restrained her as she tampered with the
inward-opening door, according to the BBC. No damage was done to
the aircraft, no one was injured, and Sellies was handed off to
police when the aircraft landed safely in Brisbane about one-hour
later.
Sellies -- who, according to her defense attorney, has a history
of sleepwalking, and no recollection of the incident --
nevertheless pleaded guilty to a charge of endangering the safety
of an aircraft. She received a good behavior bond of $1,000
Australian -- if she commits another offense within the next year,
she will forfeit the bond.
(ANN Public Service Announcement: While
Sellies's mental state appears to have been altered during her
attempt to do so, the sad truth is many people -- intoxicated and
not -- have tried before to open the doors of aircraft while
inflight. With this in mind, ANN would like to pass along the
following information, provided by Boeing, accessed by the FMI link
below.)
FMI: Why You Can't Open The Doors Of An Airliner
Inflight
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