Couple Get Probation for High Jinks on Jetliner

A newlywed couple whose drunken antics forced a commercial airliner to make an unscheduled stop in Houston were sentenced Thursday to two years of probation and fined $1,000.

Cindy and Mitchell Martina of Huntington Beach were married on the spur of the moment May 3, according to court records, and admitted that they had drunk a considerable amount of champagne at their wedding reception in Tampa, Fla.

After boarding a Continental Airlines flight for Los Angeles, they allegedly were verbally abusive, threatened a passenger with a fork and exchanged passionate kisses in plain view of a 9-year-old child, an allegation that Cindy Martina vehemently denied.

The flight crew eventually landed the plane in Houston and turned the Martinas over to federal agents, who took them and their best man to a local jail. The best man was released after six hours, but the Martinas spent the next 48 hours of their honeymoon in jail.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Stephen Wolfe said the Martinas were prosecuted under a federal law against interfering with the crew of an airliner.

After Thursday’s sentencing by U.S. District Judge John Davies, the Martinas admitted being intoxicated when they boarded the Continental flight. But Cindy Martina blamed airline officials for letting them board the plane in their intoxicated condition.

“Continental’s first mistake was letting us on the plane,” said the 30-year-old postal carrier.

She said the trouble started because flight attendants refused to serve them anymore alcohol. “If they had just served us one beer, we probably would have passed out.”

The judge ordered Mitchell Martina, 23, to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings during his probation.

A Continental Airlines spokesman said the company is not seeking any payment from the Martinas for the trouble they caused.