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A 29-year-old Irishman is facing serious charges after allegedly “mooning” a flight from Dublin to New York by pulling down his pants and baring his buttocks at crew and passengers, hurling a drink can at a fellow traveller and putting his own cap on the captain’s head.
The disruptive behaviour is said to have occurred on 7 January 2022.
It’s alleged that Shane McInerney, 29, of Galway, Ireland refused to wear a mask on a Delta flight from Dublin to New York, exposed his buttocks, threw a drink can that hit another passenger on the head – and then put his cap on the captain’s head, held a fist close to his face and told him, “Don’t touch me.”
The captain was on a rest break at the time and was in the cabin.
Prosecutors outlined the case in court documents made public in New York on Friday and reported by the New York Times.
McInerney’s lawyer declined to comment on the charges on Saturday, the paper said. McInerney made an initial appearance in federal court in Brooklyn on 14 January and was released on a US$20,000 bond.
An FBI agent, in a filed statement, said McInerney had refused to wear a mask during the eight-hour flight despite “dozens of requests” to do so. He had thrown an empty drink can, hitting another passenger in the head, and kicked the seat in front of him, disturbing the passenger there.
Instead of politely and considerately donning a mask, McInerney is accused of deliberately baring his buttocks at hapless fellow passengers. He is said to have marched from his economy-class seat to the first-class section to complain to a flight attendant about the food. While being escorted back to his seat, McInerney “pulled down his pants and underwear and exposed his buttocks” to the flight attendant and passengers sitting nearby, the statement said.
The criminal complaint said “at least one passenger” had found the Irishman “scary” and flight crew considered diverting the plane to a nearby airport to hand McInerney over to airport security.
McInerney’s flight from Ireland to New York was the first leg of a trip to Florida to begin a job at a soccer academy in the state, the Guardian reported.
According to the New York Post, anyone convicted of such disruptive conduct can be jailed for up to 20 years. McInerney was admitted to hospital for medical and psychological evaluation after the flight landed, prosecutors said. Reports say he is required to seek mental health care .
 Written by Peter Needham