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