Pensioner passenger goes barmy on board

Manila : An airline company charged an American national for damages and endangering the lives of fellow passengers when he went berserk on a flight that brought him and his Filipina wife to Cebu, central Philippines.

Philippine Air Lines (PAL) charged Rex Hampton, 80, for hitting the windowpane of a PAL plane en-route to Cebu yesterday, Jung Canton, spokesman of PAL said in a radio interview.

Passengers panicked and one passenger was injured while helping plane stewards to pacify Hampton.

The violent pensioner used his cane with a metal handle to hit the window of the plane, said Canton. She added that the impact resulted in a crack in the plane's double glass panel window.

Turning more violent, Hampton then used his bag to hit the windowpane, said Canton, adding that his wife, Juvilyn Campilangan Hampton, 45, a native of Cebu, tried to stop him. The plane rage occurred because Hampton and his wife were arguing since the beginning of the flight, said Canton.

Arguing

When airport policemen took the couple into custody, as soon as they landed at the Mactan Cebu International Airport, Juvilyn Hampton said that before they boarded the domestic flight in Manila, her husband had taken a medicine which usually made him violent.

Relatives said the two had been fighting since they left Oregon until they got on a domestic flight that brought them to Cebu.

Hampton must settle the case.