Drunk passenger restrained on HK flight

A 30-year-old Russian man was beaten up and bound with Scotch tape after being drunk and unruly on a Siberian Airlines flight from Hong Kong to Vladivostok.

As reported by the Daily Mail, 30-year-old Alexander Pautov of Vladivostok was “beaten, stomped on and bound with seatbelts and tape” on board a Siberian Airlines flight after he verbally abused other passengers and a female flight attendant.

Described as “visibly inebriated”, he started arguing with the passenger next to him and had “harassed” the flight attendant when another man punched him and pushed him away from the argument. Other passengers then joined in and Pautov had his legs and wrists bound together by Scotch tape and seatbelts.

He remained like this until the plane touched down in Vladivostok some hours later.

According to eyewitnesses, a male flight attendant had tried to lock Pautov in a bathroom but he had managed to free himself and then had launched an attack on his captive. He continued to walk down the aisle telling passengers at random that he’d “kill them” and was described as being “blind drunk and physically imposing.”

Another witness described how Pautov had walked down the aisle randomly pointing at people and telling them “he’d kill them”.

After the plane landed without further incident, Pautov was hauled off to the police who wrote up a report and allowed him to temporarily go free. However, he will face one count of public intoxication and one count of disorderly conduct which can carry a sentence of up to 15 days in prison or a fine of 2,500 rubles (£28).