Hannah Pierson appeared at Christchurch District Court on Thursday. Photo / George Heard
A former Instagram glamour model who threatened to blow up a plane from Melbourne to Auckland has been sentenced in the Christchurch District Court.
Hannah Lee Pierson, 31, was charged over the dramatic mid-flight disturbance on an Air New Zealand flight on November 7 last year.
Pierson was charged for disorderly behaviour and one of disruptive conduct towards a crew member.
She's been sentenced to 12 months intensive supervision and has to pay $500 emotional harm reparation to the victim.
Hannah Pierson stood up in court and spoke about her conviction.
She said she was remorseful for her actions and the harm she has caused her family, friends and victims involved.
"I understand there needs to be consequences to my actions," she told the court.
Her lawyer had seeked a discharge without conviction, saying a conviction would have travel consequences.
But Judge Kevin Philips opposed the submission today.
He understood she was remorseful but said the conviction wasn't out of proportion to her offending.
Suppression orders have been put in place on the defence's submission against the charges.
The offence occurred last November after the crew began serving food and beverages, Pierson requested a glass of wine.
But when crew told her that her ticket did not cover wine, and that she would need to buy one from the menu, she began abusing a member of the flight crew.
"I don't give a f***, get me a f****** wine," she yelled at the top of her voice, the summary of facts states.
She then stood up and yelled: "I'll f****** get it myself, give me the f****** wine" and called the attendant a "b****".
As Pierson tried to leave her seat, crew managed to divert her into a vacant row of seats and hold her there.
Pierson then grabbed a crew member's arm in a tight grip, squeezing hard.
She began making movements with her head that caused other staff members to believe she was going to head-butt the crew member, the summary says.
Pierson continuously tried to get out of her seat, with crew especially concerned, given that she was near an emergency exit.
Several times, she then yelled: "Get me a f****** wine or I'll blow up the plane".
Crew handcuffed her, then strapped her to the chair using spare seatbelts.
Her tirade continued with "total disregard for the other passengers in the vicinity, that included young children".
There were 71 other passengers on board the transtasman flight.
About 90 minutes before arriving at Auckland Airport, she fell asleep.
But when she woke up on landing, she continued her verbal abuse.
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