Passenger’s Brother: Family Are ‘A Bit Ashamed’
Following the recent incident which saw a Cuban bound airline divert to Bermuda due a passenger’s unruly behaviour onboard, the passenger’s brother Minhaz Khelya said while he thinks it was “blown out of proportion,” his family are a “bit ashamed because of issues this has caused.”
The Thomas Cook flight — which had left the UK heading to Cuba — was diverted to Bermuda on Monday, where it was greeted by police officers who boarded the flight and arrested Mr. Khelya, who was traveling with his wife on their honeymoon.
Mr. Khelya appeared in a Bermuda court the following day, where he was fined $3,000 after the Court heard he was seen with an open bottle of vodka, used offensive language, threatened to kill everyone on the plane and also spat on people.
Mr. Khelya being taken off the airplane by the police:
Speaking to BBC Radio Lancashire, his brother Minhaz Khelya said, “He was basically told that, if you don’t pay the fine, then you’re going to have to serve four months in prison here.
“Obviously at the time he didn’t have the funds, so my parents sent the court the funds. That was then sorted out, he was released last night, and he made his way back with British Airways from Bermuda to London.
“So I think it was a bit of a farce and it was blown out of proportion, because he was just a bit drunk and started to get a bit rowdy.
“I think he felt like he was being constantly monitored and he was just trying to have a good time with his wife on the way to his honeymoon.”
When asked how his brother’s wife has responded, Mr. Khelya said, “She went to Cuba and then returned home because she was told by the Bermudian authorities that she was not allowed to stay there – she either went to Cuba or she went back home.
“She was sad and she was crying yesterday, and that’s probably because of the fact that he was in a jail somewhere abroad with limited contact and there was no guarantee that he’d be able to board a flight on British Airways and make his way back.”
When asked if his brother’s wife supported him, Mr. Kheyla said, “Yes she is, she stayed here last night. She was talking, she was cooperating with me, my family. We were trying to sort him a flight out and she was talking to him constantly.”
When asked how his own family felt about the incident, Mr. Kheyla said, “Mostly my family – my parents most of all – are disappointed, gutted, a bit ashamed because of issues this has caused and it’s giving a bad name to the family as well.
“They are distraught. Any parent would be angry, especially with the amount of money they invested in his wedding. And that money that was spent to go to Cuba – obviously that’s all gone to waste.
“In terms of him himself, he’s ashamed, he’s disappointed in himself, and he’s apologized already to the court, he’s apologized to my parents, he’s apologized to her.
“He’s definitely regretting it now,” his brother told BBC Radio Lancashire.
“I wouldn’t say it’s been a big issue, basically, in terms of them and their relationship. I understand that he’s messed up and he’s made a mistake and he’s jeopardized their honeymoon as a result.
“I guess he’ll have to work hard to basically work his way to another honeymoon.”
This is not the first incident of a plane having to divert to the island due to a passenger’s behaviour; a Barbados-bound flight diverted to Bermuda in August 2014 due to a passenger having what the police termed “mental health challenges”, a Sunwing flight diverted to Bermuda last year due to a family’s behaviour, and in 2010 a plane traveling from the UK was diverted to Bermuda due to a passenger.
Sounds like a charming family with a good grasp on what’s important. NOT.
She bagged a winner there
Sir, with regards to your claim that this incident was blown out of proportion, may I remind you of the facts : “used offensive language, threatened to kill everyone on the plane and also spat on people.”
Airline security is a serious matter and you should be thankful that your brother was deplaned and arrested in Bermuda and not some other country where they are far less tolerant of threats to flights.
What exactly would you expect? A slap on the wrist for the additional costs to the airline to detour, the delay to ALL the other passengers who were enjoying a holiday until your brother chose (he chose to drink excessively) to be disruptive and selfish.
namely Cuba. Wouldn’;t want to get arrested there.
Guess anything goes in that family
Exactly! I can’t imagine that the plane wanted to stop in Bermuda, which puts into perspective how ridiculous his behaviour aboard the flight must have been! I for sure would not want to be stuck on a long flight like that with someone who was actin de fool.
Pig! $3.000 is only the icing on the cake – wait until he gets the big bill for landing the aircraft and the cost of all the fuel they probably had to dump before landing! Must be close to $100,000 to pull a stunt like that! I would be the only one having a 1 day marriage!
They would NOT have had to “dump” any fuel – as they had already flown 3.5 thousand miles!! That aircraft can fly up to 8-9 thousand miles – depending on the number of pax (passengers) on board and the combined total weight of the A/C – including baggage etc for “landing purposes”!!
Ex Air traffic control tower employee!!
*****BINGO*****
Bagged a winner there
Ya boy got tappppedddd!!!!! No regrets, I’ve been there before. If only you smoked herb instead, things would be just fine, minus de fact u smoked in a plane
Dont breed.
Please
Threatend to kill people and spat on them?! I would have gotten up and laid his a$$ on the floor! Seriously.
“I think he felt like he was being constantly monitored and he was just trying to have a good time with his wife on the way to his honeymoon.”
Yeah when you are acting the idiot you will be monitored! Fool.
Some people have no class and should stay in the trailer park.. or caravan..
Are you kidding me?? He THREATENED to kill people on a flight. In post 9/11, did you expect the flight crew to shake it off such behaviour?? To say things were blown out of proportion is nuts. When you’re hurtling through the air in a metal tube with nowhere to go, you bet people are going to take that type of nonsense seriously!!
If I was onboard and heard that i would have laid him out in his seat.
No you wouldn’t. You would have recognized he was drunk from the various incidents prior to the escalation.
You would know that your actions of assault would be far more heinous than someone shouting threats.
You would also have ascertained his access to exits, weapons and assessed his risk to the passengers, the crew, the flight and to you.
What you would have done is as follows……
You would have signalled for the crew and discretely offerred your assistance to be called on by them if needed prior to their action or to offer controlled support so they could appraise you of any need.
They would thank you for your offer but decline, as they are equipped and trained to deal with this situation as part of their job. If for whatever reason their actions didn’t contain the situation and it escalated, then you would help restrain the individual for them to carry out their work.
Otherwise you too would be facing the courts, jail, fine for assault. It would be you that was being cuffed and led off a plane.
Bullsh*t! He would have threatened the life and safety of me an anyone travelling with me and assault via spitting. That signals go time for me.
When I am an innocent bystander recieveing abuse, and I know there are no weapons involved I act, and I would have every right to do so in this scenario.
Especially in this day and age of flight security concerns.
Sadly you are mistaken.
Sure you would have…..not.
It must have been frightening for the other passengers when he started spitting and getting rowdy
“Blown out of proportion”?
He threatened to kill all passengers on a plane. WTF do you expect to happen?! He’s lucky thats all he got.
He should have been masde to pay for ALL costs associated with the delay, even for all costs associated with every pasenger he threatened to kill. @ssh*le.
In todays world with the constant threat of Ebola, swine flu, bird flu etc.and a new range of illness that can be carried throught bodily fluids by radical groups and terrorist! does the posibility of charging anyone that spits on some else purposely with attempted murder exist! And when charged does the Bermuda law take Over British law ! the plane took of in England and landed here so to say we are still in British territory ! so why was the wife not aloud to remain in Bermuda?
example when you arrive in puerto rico the signs at the airport read “welcome to the united states of America” ?
Puerto Rico’s relationship with the US is quite different from Bermuda’s and the UK’s.
Ah yes… the wonders of alcohol. And this stuff is legal!
Had it been me I’m pretty certain I would have gone on the honeymoon without him, and there would be a serious conversation about him not drinking ever again if that’s the sort of behaviour that he ends up.
The man should be ashamed, and now so should his family if they truly believe the situation was blown out of proportion. His behaviour, if as reported, would have got him arrested regardless of the location, and everyone who flies these days knows exactly you’re supposed to behave inflight, and it’s not particularly restricting.
I do hope that he pays his parents back and does more than simply apologise to his wife, but work hard to make it up to her, and to never behave in that manner ever again.
Yes, we are all entitled to making mistakes, how we respond following them is what makes the person we are.
Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Those comments from his family only serve to highlight his ignorant and irresponsible behaviour. Being hostile and making threats on an aircraft will result in your punishment. Lucky there was no one onboard with the predisposition to knock his a$$ out!
Unbeleivable. And they are “a bit” ashamed. You cant get away with threatening to kill all passengers on a plane nowadays! That is serious behaviour and will invoke some harsh unforgiving procedures.
That is not taken lightly these days.
You should be totally and utterly ashamed.
A lesson for all you hot-heads out there. And one day someone WILL knock your a$$ out!
FYI your lovely “yob of a brother” has a problem & so do you for not realizing that his behaviour was unacceptable & ENDANGERING other peoples’ lives including his bride! Therefore, it was not blown out of proportion!!!
Wifey…I hope you’ve known this man for a while before marrying him. This is not a good way to start a marriage and you may be in for some “surprises” down the road if you don’t know hubby all that well. JUST SAYIN’!!
Blown out of proportion and a bit ashamed? Let’s see if they still think it was all a bit of a joke when Thomas Cook demands the cost of diverting the flight to Bermuda.
spoiled BRAT!
Looks like stupidity runs in the family. Blown out of proportion? He was drunk, threatening and abusive on a commercial flight. Instead of being thankful that he ONLY got a $3000 fine this idiot wants to complain? He’s lucky his moronic brother didnt do this over American territory as they probably would have charged him with making terroristic threats and tossed him in prison. Do they not realize how serious people take situations like this and how frightening it can be for other passengers? Not to mention the inconvenience they faced. Clearly a narcissistic family in which the males were allowed to behave however they wished.
should have fed him to Lydia,our friendly Great White that happens to be visiting Bermuda waters.
ya boy jus wanted his wife see bermy buh he knew if he waited long enough d flight woulda bin diverted here u no some guys would try anyding for d right one his plan mida just worked out yet
Hope the carrier goes after him for costs of the diversion plus costs of taking his dumb donkey to court to recover those costs.
This guy does not deserve to ride a bus never mind someting that hurtles along at near the speed of sound.
On my plane… lucky they did not throw him out at 27 thousand feet…
Or spit on him! Ewwww
This is the sort of behavior I’m glad I don’t have to deal with on my private jet.
This guy’s brother is clearly misguided! To think in this post 9/11 world, that his brother’s behavior is acceptable especially on a commercial flight, is asinine at best.
Spitting on people, in some jurisdictions, is considered attempted murder. That fool was extremely lucky that he was not put on trial as such, and a $3000.00 fine pales in comparison, to what he could have faced in another jurisdiction, where he could have been charged with air terrorism.
And yes, the airline should pursue the recovery of costs for the emergency landing, and Bermuda, pursue the costs for his arrest, and court proceedings.
A “bit ashamed”…. They should be GREATLY ashamed and I can tell you if that plane had landed in the States – this “clown” would be doing time in a real state prison!!!
Getting drunk on a flight – ok as long as you pass out and don’t cause a problem with your fellow passengers. Once you exit your own personal space and threaten the safety of the plane / passengers it’s fair game as to what happens next. Airline travel is anything but pleasurable these days and we all have to put up with traveling on what is essentially a bus in the sky so we need to play nice.
I guess that $3000 fine and the possible further repercussions from the airline will teach this guy a hard lesson in flight security.
At least Bermuda got a landing fee and some fuel costs – and hopefully a few curious people when they saw the beauty of Bermuda on the way in. Today’s unplanned stop might be tomorrow’s tourists.
Most definitely he is an Arsenal supporter lol
Noted your comments ,I was there!!! 2 seats in front, terrifying, he started off offering a lady £1000 for a word search sheet, and annoying people, a steward had noted his behavior(monitored) asked him to calm down he then kick off snarling at the top of his voice that he was going to knock everyone out, kill people, blow up the plane,fing and jeffing one man said that his kids could hear his foul language and said he would flatten him, that made it ten times worse,the staff were heros finally they had to ask for assistance from the male passengers who overpowered him so that he could be handcuffed and bound to his seat.when handcuffed he proceeded to kick hell out of the seats in front and fetch phlem up from the deepest regions of his body,so he was blindfolded and masked black sheets were draped around him this reminded me of my dad,our dog used to have fits so he threw it into the coal house that quietened it down,no such luck 2hrs more we suffered until we landed and the cops got on,I have never seen men as big 7ft plus he went quiet.His family must realise that it WAS NOT blown out of all proportion ALL!!! the women around him were scared stiff.