Two South Korean pastors in their 60s have been fined $724 each after delivering an uninvited 13-minute sermon aboard a domestic airplane flight.
The Seoul Southern District Court in South Korea convicted both men on August 18 for violating the country's aviation safety law after ruling that their actions constituted disruptive behavior.
According to a report by The Independent, the incident occurred on March 12 during a domestic flight in South Korea. The two preachers stood up in the aircraft aisle, shouting loudly and arguing with passengers who protested against the disruption.
Flight attendants tried to intervene and force the men to take their seats. One pastor shouted to passengers that they would go to hell if they did not believe in Jesus. The second pastor joined in, walking back and forth along the aisle while shouting hallelujah and warning passengers that they were heading to hell.
When a crew member approached the pastors to issue an official warning, one of the men yelled back that the crew should not try to lecture him. The disruption lasted for 13 minutes as the pastors ignored repeated warnings from both crew members and passengers. The preachers rejected all charges brought against them, but their refusal to comply led to their behavior being reported to the court.
Under South Korean aviation safety legislation, flight crews are authorized to use stun guns and ropes to physically restrain passengers who cause disturbances on board. Offending passengers may also face formal criminal investigations once the aircraft lands on the ground.
Recent aviation incidents
The disruption follows other recent incidents in international aviation, as reported by Ukrainian news agency UNIAN. In Brazil, a Cirrus SR22 light aircraft suffered an engine failure mid-flight, but the pilot survived after deploying the aircraft's Cirrus Airframe Parachute System. The emergency feature allows the entire plane to descend safely to the ground via parachute without requiring the pilot to eject from the cockpit.
In July, an emergency occurred aboard a flight operated by European budget airline Ryanair between Greece and Germany when a passenger was nearly sucked out of a shattered window. An investigative commission later determined that engine debris broke the window following an engine failure caused by a bird strike and internal metal wear.
