Plane passenger fined £33k for midair yoga outburst

A man who became violent when asked to stop doing yoga moves on a flight has been fined over £33,000.

Hyongtae Pae, 72, had been in Hawaii with his wife celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary.

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They were heading home on a United Airlines flight from Honolulu to Tokyo in March when the incident occurred. Mr Pae had gone to the back of the plane to practise some yoga moves, but when the crew started serving the inflight meal, he was asked to return to his seat.

He became angry and reportedly tried to head butt and bite two off duty Marines who stepped into help. He also threatened to kill other passengers, and shoved his wife.

The pilot turned the plane around and headed back to Honolulu, where Mr Pae was arrested.

He told officials he hadn't slept for 11 days leading up to the incident.

The Independent reports he pleaded guilty to interfering with a flight crew in April, and last Thursday a federal judge in Honolulu ordered him to pay $44,235 (£33,539) to the airline. He had already spent 13 days in jail over the incident.

Mr Pae had gone home to South Korea following the incident, but returned for sentencing.

According to the Telegraph, US District Judge Helen Gillmor told the defendant's lawyer: "I think your client is getting off very easy with the $44,235 restitution amount considering the costs of turning the plane around, including jet fuel and all the passengers who had to return to Honolulu.

"I take this very seriously and I have a great deal of concern about this behaviour."

Mr Pae has been told he may not be allowed to return to the US, but his lawyer said that was fine by Mr Pae as he was in his 70s and had no plans to return anyway.