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InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines -- A Chinese-Filipino passenger, who claims to be a diplomat, was offloaded from a Hong Kong-bound Cathay Pacific jetliner at about 12 noon on Monday for refusing to fasten his seat belt and was accused of being an "unruly passenger."
Cabin crew members were said to have verbally warned Francis Chua, aka Ang Biao, to put on his seat belt while the airplane was taxiing for take-off but to no avail.
The crew alerted the pilot, identified as Capt. Brian Hall, and Flight Officer Warren Hayman, who immediately turned around to go back to NAIA Terminal 1.
Chua then left his seat on the lower deck and climbed the spiral staircase to the upper deck of the B747, trying to gain entry to the cockpit, in an apparent attempt to talk to the pilot.
The crew members had to wrestle to prevent Chua from entering the pilot’s domain, according to Cathay Pacific officials.
Upon being offloaded, Chua was brought to the First Police Center for Aviation Security (1st PCAS) where he was investigated.
First PCAS Senior Supt. Manuel Pintado said that Chua violated RA9497, the new anti-terrorism act under the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).
Flight CX-900, with 400 passengers and 11 crew members, was delayed by more than 30 minutes and was able to leave for Hong Kong at 2:30 p.m.
The airline filed a report saying: “Chua was an unruly passenger, who would not obey any command from the cabin crew. Verbal warning was given but to no avail. Return to (parking) bay to offload passenger. Passenger was repeatedly asked to fasten seatbelt but he refused and then during the taxi back to bay, he climbed the stairs to the upper deck to gain entry to the cockpit. He was prevented from doing so by cabin crew.”
A check with the internet shows that Chua has been Honorary Consul General to Peru since 2002.
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