Fear of Flying Gets Woman Lighter Sentence For Drunken Plane Incident

An English woman's fear of flying got her off the hook on Monday as a judge refused to send her to jail for drunkenly brawling with other passengers and the crew on an EasyJet flight.

Lynn Grimes, a 41-year-old woman who was returning to Manchester from vacation in Athens on December 7, spent most of her flight back to England sitting with the cabin crew, who she had told she didn't fly well, and drinking wine. When she was told to return to her actual seat for landing, she was less then pleased and more than tipsy.

According to the Daily Mail, Grimes grabbed one passenger by the hair and kicked a steward in the stomach. He refusal to sit forced the pilot to abort landing until she could be calmed down.

Grimes pleaded guilty to endangering an aircraft and two counts of assault, normally more than enough to earn passage to the clink, but judge Jonathan Geake said he wouldn't imprison somebody who "simply panicked."

Grimes' lawyer claimed "She was at the time very apologetic and severely embarrassed by her behavior." The lawyer also noted that she has since flown to Greece multiple times "without incident.:

Grimes received a 18 month suspended sentence and an appointment with a medical professional. She also serve 60 hours of community service.

Grimes joins a growing list of drunken airplane passengers. In April, a drunk American Airlines passenger forced an emergency landing after he became unruly. On May 3rd, a drunk Air France passenger claimed his name was bin Laden while trying to get a boarding pass for a flight to Paris. On May 4th, a drunk British Airways passenger groped a flight attendant as she served him coffee. In June, a drunk Jetstar passenger urinated in the plane's aisle. And just last week, a former Olympic hopeful reportedly drunkenly peed on a girl on a redeye JetBlue flight. The girl's family has come forward saying he peed on the aisle, not their beloved 11-year old.