Businessman and honorary consul to Peru Francis Chua on Tuesday denied allegations by an international airline that he was offloaded from the plane on Monday due to his unruly behavior.
“I categorically deny any untoward or inappropriate behavior that would have warranted my being offloaded from the Cathay Pacific flight from Manila to Hong Kong,” Chua said in a statement.
Cathay Pacific said it offloaded Chua because he refused to fasten his seatbelt and made a scene as the Hong Kong-bound aircraft taxied for takeoff.
Chua said he intends to seek all legal remedies “arising from my cancelled trip and the irreparable damage to my name and reputation caused by the flight crew’s unfounded allegations.”
Chua explained he only wanted to remove the shoulder strap because he felt suffocated.
“I informed a stewardess that I would use only one seatbelt as I could not use the shoulder strap because I felt suffocated. In my previous flight from Hong Kong last April 9, 2012 via CX 919… I asked the same from a stewardess and she politely agreed,” he said.
“The first stewardess allowed me to use just one seat belt. But another stewardess came and told me that I should use the shoulder strap. I told her the same thing but she insisted and even informed her supervisor,” Chua added.
He claimed the supervisor approached him and threatened to have him offloaded if he continued to refuse to wear the strap.
Chua said the crew called up the pilot, who, he said, did not even bother to come out to verify the incident.
Through the public address system, the pilot announced that he would turn the plane around to offload a very unruly passenger, Chua narrated.
“I vehemently deny the allegations of unruly behavior thrown at me by the pilot and the flight crew,” he said, adding that the flight crew just overreacted and blew the incident out of proportion.