Two Ontario men whose drunken antics forced a Beijing-bound flight to land at the Vancouver International Airport on Monday have been ordered to pay $71,757 in restitution.
Forty-five-year-old George Campbell of Conestogo and 38-year-old Paul Alexander Wilson of Kitchener pled guilty to mischief after their unruly behavior forced the crew to land at YVR, delaying the flight 18 hours.
Cpl. Sherrdean Turley was skeptical the fine would cover the costs to ground the Air Canada flight or to put up the other passengers in hotels for the night.
"I would think it would cost them more than $71,000, but it's good that they're being forced to pay something," she said.
A passenger onboard said the men were fighting with flight attendants and it took the efforts of the entire crew to finally handcuff them to plane seats.
One passenger accused Air Canada of being irresponsible and claimed airline staff either over served them or permitted the intoxicated passengers on the plane when it boarded in Toronto.
With files from The Canadian Press
