Drunk Hawaiian Airlines passenger to serve 6 months, pay $172K for diverted Feb. flight

HONOLULU (AP) — A man whose behavior on a Hawaiian Airlines flight to South Korea forced it to return to Honolulu has been ordered to pay the air carrier more than $172,000.

Kyong Chol Kim was sentenced Wednesday to six months in jail for interfering with flight attendants and crew members on the flight in February.

Prosecutors say the 48-year-old South Korean man drank a bottle of whiskey before the flight and later bothered a child seated next him.

Prosecutors say he lunged at a flight attendant after the employee confronted him about his behavior.

Capacity growth in the West Coast-Hawaii air travel market is slowing again. (Photo: Hawaiian Airlines)

U.S. service members on board helped restrain Kim as the flight turned around.

Kim was ordered to pay Hawaiian Airlines the cost of returning the flight and accommodating passengers waiting for the plane in South Korea.

Original story: Hawaiian Airlines passenger arrested for trying to hit flight attendant; plane turns around

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