A man of Irish descent was yesterday found guilty by an English court of endangering a packed jet of holiday-makers travelling to Jamaica.
Patrick Connors (36), of Lewisham, south-east London, was convicted at Hove Crown Court of endangering the safety of an Airtours flight to Montego Bay on January 31st last year.
He was also found guilty of causing a disturbance on board the flight.
The jury reached its verdict after deliberating for seven hours.
Francis Coyle (40), also of Lewisham, was found not guilty of endangering an aircraft on the same flight but guilty of causing a disturbance.
The jury delivered its verdict after 9 1/2 hours. Several women, including Josephine Cooper (19) and Angela O'Driscoll (39), both previously cleared of being drunk on the same Boeing 767 flight, left the court in tears following the verdict on Coyle.
After delivering the verdicts to the court the foreman of the jury said: "We feel there should be a spoken warning about it being an offence to be drunk on an aircraft during the safety announcement."
Judge Austin Izzard-Davies adjourned sentence on Coyle and Connors until August 11th.
Both defendants were remanded in custody.
After the hearing Det Constable Rod Bird, who led the inquiry into the incident on the flight, said: "We treat each and every case of so-called air rage very seriously.
"It's a message to everyone who would even consider getting into an aggressive manner on board an aircraft."