A former Instagram model who drunkenly threatened to blow up a plane mid-flight during an explicit-laden rant has made a heartfelt vow to make up for the incident.
During a sentencing appearance at the Christchurch District Court on Thursday, Hannah Lee Pierson, 31, told Judge Kevin Phillips: ‘I will redeem myself and be a better person’.
Ms Pierson had earlier pleaded guilty to two charges of disruptive conduct towards a crew member and disorderly behaviour after the incident on the Air New Zealand flight from Melbourne to Auckland on November 7 last year.
The court had heard she had consumed a bottle of wine in the toilets at Melbourne Airport before boarding the flight.
Ms Pierson then asked for a glass of wine when the crew began serving food and beverages but she was told it was not included in her ticket, sparking the extraordinary rant where she said several times, ‘Get me a f***ing wine or I’ll blow up the plane’.
Hannah Lee Pierson, 31, (pictured) told Christchurch District Court she would ‘redeem myself’ in a heartfelt statement on Thursday as she was sentenced over an altercation on an Air New Zealand flight from Melbourne to Auckland on November 7 last year
![The court heard Ms Pierson abused a flight attendant after she was told she would need to purchase wine as it was not included in her ticket](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/30/06/48576823-10044115-The_court_heard_Ms_Pierson_abused_a_flight_attendant_after_she_w-a-41_1632979013062.jpg)
The court heard Ms Pierson abused a flight attendant after she was told she would need to purchase wine as it was not included in her ticket
Ms Pierson sounded like a different person in the court today.
‘Your Honour, I have thought about this moment over and over again, and I have done a lot of reflecting over the past eight months. I respect, standing here today, that what I did was very wrong, and it was not just one victim but the full aircraft,’ she told the judge.
‘I truly am remorseful for my actions and very sorry. I can only prove from my actions in the future that I will redeem myself and be a better person.’
In response, Judge Phillips said Ms Pierson was ‘a very brave woman’ for making the statement.
‘This is the start of a new facet of your life,’ he said.
Ms Pierson was released on intensive supervision for a year, subject to treatment and counselling conditions.
She was also ordered to pay $500 as reparation for emotional harm done to the flight crew member she abused. It is believed the offer of the amount was made by Ms Pierson.
During a court appearance in April, the court heard Ms Pierson began abusing a flight attendant after being told she would need to buy wine from the menu.
‘I don’t give a f**k, get me a f***ing wine,’ court documents revealed that she yelled.
She then stood up and shouted: ‘I’ll f***ing get it myself, give me the f***ing wine’.
Ms Pierson then called an attendant a ‘b***h’ and tried to leave her seat, with crew intervening and directing her to a vacant row.
As she was held there, Ms Pierson grabbed a crew member’s arm and squeezed it hard, then started making head movements that made staff believe she was going to headbutt the attendant, the summary said.
While confined in the row, she continuously tried to get out of her seat and shouted several times: ‘Get me a f***ing wine or I’ll blow up the plane’.
Crew then handcuffed her and strapped her to the chair with spare seatbelts, as she continued her rant.
!['I respect, standing here today, that what I did was very wrong, and it was not just one victim but the full aircraft,' Ms Pierson told the sentencing judge](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/30/05/48576805-10044115-image-a-37_1632977597693.jpg)
‘I respect, standing here today, that what I did was very wrong, and it was not just one victim but the full aircraft,’ Ms Pierson told the sentencing judge
The court summary noted that she had ‘total disregard’ for the other 72 passengers onboard the trans-Tasman flight, including the young children that were nearby.
She eventually fell asleep 90 minutes before touching down at Auckland airport, but continued to berate the crew when she woke up upon landing.
During the sentencing appearance, it was revealed Ms Pierson faced other charges in Australia which the defence characterised as ‘violence-based and alcohol-fuelled’.
Her defence team sought for Ms Pierson to be discharged without conviction so that she could fulfil a desire to train as a nurse but the judge said a decision as to whether she could do so would have to be left to the relevant professional body.