About two years ago I almost lost my left eye in a Champagne cork accident. I was opening a bunch of bottles to write my notes for the Christmas issue of Dish magazine and I forgot the golden rule: keep your hand firmly on the cork once you've unwound the metal cage - and GENTLY work the cork out.
My cellphone rang while opening said bubbles. I took my hand off the cork for a split second to lean over the breakfast bar and answer the call and KABOOM! It felt like Dirty Harry had just shot me in the face. I hit the lino, instinctively fumbling at my eye socket to check everything was intact. I had a huge bird's egg where my eyebrow met my nose but luckily after a few blinks I realised everything was fine. The cork however, was lodged firmly in the ceiling panel. They're dangerous things, corks, but even I was staggered to hear that one had succeeded in bringing down a plane.
Last week it was reported by thedrinksbusiness.com that damage caused by an errant Champagne cork forced the pilot of an easyJet Airbus to make an emergency landing.
The plane was on its way from London to Turkey when a flight attendant accidentally fired the cork into the cabin ceiling panel as she was opening the bottle. The impact caused oxygen masks to drop and the plane diverted to Milan, causing a seven-hour delay.
The oxygen masks needed to be reset and the passengers (despite getting a bit of a fright) eventually saw the funny side of the incident. No one was harmed, however there were a few people gunning for the loos as the plane disembarked. According to the article, this incident marks a change from the usual drinks-related dramas on flights.
These have included a Russian man who was beaten up and bound with Scotch tape after becoming "visibly inebriated" on a flight from Hong Kong to Vladivostok in July.
In August a woman was prevented from boarding a plane in China after downing an entire bottle of Remy Martin XO.
