WINNIPEG (CP) -- A retired military nurse from New York has agreed to pay a fine for a disturbance on a flight which started with an argument with a seatmate about U.S. President George Bush.
Michael Husar, 59, was taken into custody in Winnipeg last fall when the Northwest Airlines flight was forced to make an unscheduled landing on a flight between Minneapolis and Anchorage.
A Northwest crew member claimed Husar became verbally abusive and poured the contents of a Bourbon Manhattan, which he had smuggled onto the plane in a juice bottle, onto his seat when flight attendants asked him to give the bottle to them.
Husar and his lawyer have always maintained the case was an example of Sept. 11 hysteria gone overboard.
But on Wednesday, Husar agreed to forfeit his $4,000 bail and pay a $7,000 fine to the Federal Aviation Authority for bringing alcohol on board a commercial aircraft. In exchange, Manitoba Justice officials have agreed to drop criminal charges.
''At the end of the day, it now appears this was a massive overreaction,'' John Corona, Husar's lawyer, said Wednesday.
Flight attendants said they asked for the juice bottle when a female passenger claimed Husar smelled of alcohol and was repeatedly touching her on the shoulder and leg while the two had been arguing about politics.
The woman was a big supporter of Bush, while Husar was backing Democratic challenger John Kerry.
Husar's bizarre story made international headlines last year because of its ties to the American presidential race and the ongoing threat of terrorism. His family even contacted New York Sen. Hillary Clinton seeking help following his arrest.
The Northwest Airlines Boeing 757 carrying more than 180 passengers and crew was forced to burn off more than $10,000 worth of jet fuel in the skies above Winnipeg before touching down in the city for an unscheduled stop on the eve of the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Husar was then escorted from the plane by an armed air marshall who was on the flight. He was taken into custody by waiting police officers and charged with mischief and causing a disturbance.
He spent five nights in the Winnipeg Remand Centre before being released on bail.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press
