Woman who tried to open Jet2 plane door mid-flight jailed for two years

A woman accused of trying to open a plane door mid-flight has been jailed for two years.

Chloe Haines, 26, has been jailed at Chelmsford Crown Court for two years for endangering the safety of an aircraft and assaulting a member of the cabin crew.

Haines was flying from Stansted airport to Dalaman, Turkey on June 22 last year. While trying to open the door, Haines yelled: "I'm going to kill you all!".

She later said that she "blacked out and didn't really remember what happened" after mixing alcohol with medication, said prosecutor Michael Crimp.

Two RAF fighter jets were scrambled to meet the plane and escort it back to Stansted, where Haines was arrested by Essex Police upon landing.

The noise of the scrambled aircraft was so loud that a sonic boom was heard over parts of the Anglia region.

Judge Charles Gratwicke, sentencing Haines on Wednesday, said: "Those that are trapped in the confined space of the aircraft will inevitably be distressed, frightened and petrified by the actions of those who in a drunken state endanger their lives.

"For some it will be their worst nightmare come true."

Haines, dressed in a white shirt and black top, with her blonde hair in a ponytail, sobbed through much of the hearing.

Jet2 calculated that the incident cost them £86,000, the court heard.