The world at a glance . . . International

International

Moscow

Flying while intoxicated? Passengers rose up in revolt this week to prevent their Aeroflot flight from taking off after their seemingly drunk pilot greeted them with slurred words and bloodshot eyes. Flight attendants first told the 300 alarmed passengers on the flight from Moscow to New York to stop “making trouble,” then called in Aeroflot representatives to board the plane. At first officials declined to remove the pilot, but at the insistence of passenger Ksenia Sobchak, a well-known Russian TV personality and socialite, Aeroflot relented and provided a new flight crew. The company insists its pilot was not intoxicated and that the passengers may have experienced a “mass psychosis.” But passengers say they know what they saw. “I don’t think there’s anyone in Russia who doesn’t know what a drunk person looks like,” passenger Katya Kushner told The Moscow Times.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us