Man faces charges after doing shots and asking cabin crew to join ‘mile high club’ on first ever flight

Passenger accused of grabbing staff and lying down on the floor of aircraft

The man admitted drinking ahead of the trip in an attempt to calm his nerves (Getty Images)

A US man travelling by plane for the first time has wound up with criminal charges after getting drunk and allegedly asking if members of cabin crew would join the “mile high club”.

Officers from the FBI were called to meet a disruptive passenger at Orlando International Airport after a Spirit Airlines flight from Kentucky that arrived at around 10am on 6 January.

Court documents state that James Warren Finnister, 37, asked the lead flight attendant if she would join the mile high club – a euphemism for having sex while on an aircraft at altitude – before grabbing a second, pulling her into his seat and repeating the question, reports Fox 25 Orlando.

The member of staff reported the incident to her supervisor after freeing herself from Mr Finnister’s grip.

The court documents go on to state that Mr Finnister wouldn’t stay in his assigned seat and was asking “questions related to entering the aircraft cockpit” that alarmed staff.

He eventually “[lay] down on the floor of the aircraft in front of his seat after being moved for a third time by flight attendants due to his disruptive, intimidating behaviours.”

Mr Finnister was arrested for knowingly interfering with the performance of the duties of the flight crew. According to reports, he has been released ahead of a trial.

The first-time flyer admitted to drinking shots ahead of the trip to settle his nerves but said the charges were “bogus” in an interview with The Daily Beast – claiming he only made a joke about the mile high club and that he didn’t recall the incidents in the complaint as he was asleep for most of the journey.

The Independent has contacted Spirit Airlines for comment.

In late 2023, a video of a Southwest Airlines flight attendant banning a mother she had earlier seen doing drunken cartwheels in the airport went viral.