A 20-YEAR old rugby union player has been charged yesterday with drunken behaviour and damaging a seat while on board an Air Niugini flight from Singapore to Port Moresby on Tuesday morning.
Joseph Robert Tuank, who was part of a Turagu junior team that played in a tournament in Singapore, is to appear in court again today for mention.
He was charged under Section 262 (c) of the PNG Civil Aviation Act with causing damage to an armrest of the B767 which “was likely to endanger the safety of the aircraft in flight”.
He was also charged under Section 4 of the Summary Offences Act for allegedly being drunk in a public place and acting in a manner that “disturbed reasonable members of the public”.
According to court documents, Tuank, of Mendi in Southern Highlands, drank heavily with a friend on board the plane.
Upon approaching the Jacksons International Airport, the flight crew advised passengers to fasten their seat belts but Tuank and his friend kept walking about in the cabin.
They were also allegedly rowdy and disturbed the flight crew and other passengers.
They were immediately detained by airport security personnel when they disembarked from the plane.