‘Drunk’ flight attendant ‘passed out in her seat, slurred through the safety announcement and asked which city they were in when the United Airlines flight from Chicago landed’
- Julianne March, 49, from Wisconsin, was on a flight from Chicago to Indiana
- Passengers said she did not make eye contact and stumbled down the aisle
- She then proceeded to pass out on the flight without her seat belt fastened
- March was given a breathalyzer test on landing and was four times the legal limit
- She has since been fired and charged with criminal public intoxication
A plane’s sole flight attendant who appeared drunk is facing charges after an alarmed passenger filmed her slumped in her seat and stumbling on the plane.
Julianne March, 49, from Waukesha, Wisconsin, appeared under the influence on a United Express flight from Chicago to South Bend, Indiana, on August 2.
When the plane landed, officers boarded and March started crying, believing she was still in Chicago.
Julianne March, 49, from Waukesha, Wisconsin, alarmed passengers by passing out in her seat without her seat belt fastened during a flight from Chicago to South Bend, Indiana
Passenger Aaron Scherb said he noticed the flight attendant was behaving unusually, according to ABC News.
He said March was leaning against the galley and not making any eye-contact with the passengers as they boarded the United Express flight, the regional branch of United Airlines.
The attendant then went on to make a ‘slurred’ security announcement and knocked into passengers while walking down the aisle before appearing to pass out in her seat without fastening her seat belt, he said.
She did not respond to any of the calls passengers made to her during the flight, according to another passenger.
Upon landing, Scherb notified the pilots of her behavior who said they were already aware and had told officials on the ground.
The flight attendant, the only one on the flight, slurred her security announcement and bumped into passengers on the aisle
Passenger Aaron Scherb tweeted during the flight that the attendant was dropping things and was ‘quite drunk’
March was given a breathalyzer test and her alcohol level was 0.204, five times the legal limit for flight attendants and other aviation positions of 0.04.
She told the officers she was not on any medication and they could smell alcohol on her breath.
The flight was operated by Air Wisconsin and a spokesperson for the airline said: ‘The Flight Attendant involved in this incident is no longer an employee of the company.
‘We will continue to cooperate with local authorities and assist them as necessary.’
March was still on her probationary period and had only been working as a flight attendant for a few months, a source said.
Upon landing, March was breathalyzed and found to be four times the legal limit for a flight attendant
She was fired on the terms that she did not complete her probationary period.
Scherb tweeted about the incident and a United representative offered him a $500 voucher or 25,000 miles as well as a refund for the trip, which he refused.
He said their response was not sufficient as passengers’ safety was jeopardized.
A United Airlines spokesperson said: ‘We expect our regional carriers to take appropriate action as required when issues like these happen with their employees.’
The Federal Aviation Administration said it would investigate the incident as a possible civil violation while prosecutors in St. Joseph’s County, Indiana, charged her with criminal public intoxication.