German pensioner too drunk to board flight after drinking fine wine from hand luggage

A 67-year-old German man who refused to hand over his wine at airport security is facing a fine of €10,000 after boarding a plane, having drunk both bottles, and mistaking the emergency exit for the toilet door.

The man, from Baden-Württemberg, was on his way to Bangkok when he was stopped by Frankfurt Airport security, who found two bottles of wine in his hand luggage.

The man told the officials that the wine was intended as a gift for his hosts in Thailand.

Current guidelines stipulate that individual containers cannot exceed 100ml and the total volume of liquid cannot total more than 1 litre.

When he was told that he could not take the wine with him, rather than disposing of it, the pensioner said the wine was too expensive for him to let it go to waste.

After drinking both bottles, the man managed to make his way to the flight gate and board the plane. Once in the cabin, he went in search of the toilet but ended up pressing an emergency button which opened a locked security door.

It is reported that the flight crew had to stop the inebriated man from walking out onto the tarmac. As the man was “uncooperative” the Federal Police were called to take him back to the main airport building.

After sobering up for three hours, the man asked the police for directions to the taxi rank. Officers pointed out that a taxi ride home would cost around €150 to which the man replied: “I’ve already blown so much money today, the taxi fare isn’t going to matter much”.

This appears to be true – as well as the taxi fare and the cost of the wine, the man now faces a fine of up to €10,000 after his drunken escapade. The federal police did not release details of the wine in question.