Rough Landing, Mutual Sobriety Tests

drunk links to original article

(Haber Apron Webnews, 20 December 2011)

An Onur Air flight from Istanbul to Diyarbakır was directed to land at
Şanlıurfa's GAP Urfa Airport because of heavy fog and made a rough
landing. Both the passengers and the pilot were taken to the police
station.

According to claims, the incident that put the passengers and the pilot
in jail happened this way: The Onur Air flight left Istanbul last night at
18:45 with more than 220 passengers en route to Diyarbakır. But because
of heavy fog at Diyarbakır the plane was re-directed to Şanlıurfa GAP
airport.

The rough landing at Şanlıurfa, despite the weather being clear, caused
the passengers and crew to argue. The passengers demanded that the
State Airport Authority (DHMI)'s acting chief test the pilots for
alcohol and DHMI headquarters was duly informed. Not satisfied with
this result, the passengers went to the Airport Security Directorate
and requested an alcohol test.

Based on instructions from the prosecutor, police then invited the
pilot and co-pilot to come to the police station but the pilots said
they couldn't leave the airplane. The alcohol test was administered
on the plane after the pilots discussed the matter with Onur Air officials.

The passengers who had complained about the pilots were about ready
to head to Diyarbakır when the pilots counterattacked. The pilot,
a Greek named Merkeouris Spanas and the co-pilot, Volkan Özseyhan,
both of whom wouldn't leave the plane for the alcohol test, went to
the Airport Security Directorate and filed a complaint against the
passengers, saying that 'they had put flight safety in jeopardy.'

The passengers who complained were then subjected to an alcohol
test, at the behest of the prosecutor. The acting security chief pointed
to the complaining passengers and asked a flight attendant 'which one
put the flight in jeopardy?' but the flight attendant couldn't identify
anyone.

Neither the pilots nor the passengers were found to be drunk but
the passengers did not ultimately reach Diyarbakır untıl 03:30 in
the morning.