An Irishman who refused to wear a Covid mask throughout a flight from the Irish capital to New York and exposed his rear end to a steward faces up to twenty years in jail if found guilty of assault, US Justice Department aforementioned on Friday.
Shane McInerney, 29, from Galway, was alleged to have caused the disturbance on a Delta Airlines flight on the 7th of January.
He appeared before a judge in New York a week later and was charged with “intentionally assaulting and daunting a member of a flight crew”, in line with a criminal grievance unsealed on Friday.
It aforesaid the suspect repeatedly refused to wear a mask, threw a beverage can and hit a traveller in the head, and “pulled down his pants and underclothing and mooned a steward and passengers”.
A court spokesperson said that if convicted of this law-breaking charge, McInerney may be sentenced to twenty years in prison.
McInerney was headed to Florida to take up a job at a football academy.
He was discharged on $20,000 bail as he awaits trial.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in January 2021 it would observe a policy towards those that reject federal rules mandating mask-wearing on USA domestic flights.
This came as flight attendants reported a high variety of incidents of verbal and physical abuse from travellers who refuse to wear a mask.
An American Airlines jetliner headed from Miami to London turned around in mid-flight on Thursday as a result of a passenger refusing to wear a Covid mask.
