No jail time for drunk passenger who bit KLM steward's ear

An intoxicated passenger who bit a KLM steward on the ear during a flight from Amsterdam to San Francisco last year, will not spend any time in jail for the attack. A court in San Francisco sentenced the 29-year-old Roermond man to pay compensation of about 16 thousand dollars and put him on probation for three years, the Limburger reports.

The man was already drunk when his plane from Dusseldorf arrived at Schiphol for a stopover, according to the newspaper. KLM allowed him to continue to San Francisco, on the condition that he be served no further alcohol while on the journey.

But on the plane it turned out that he snuck his own alcohol onto the flight and continued drinking. He got into an argument with the steward when the steward tried to stop him lighting a cigarette. The argument turned into a physical altercation, during which the passenger bit the steward's ear.

The man was charged with interfering with airplane crew, a charge that can carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years in the United States, according to Het Parool. The man escaped this punishment by making a settlement deal with the judiciary.