Air hostess wrestles drunken passenger 11 Sep, 2003 / MaltaMedia-News - (source: Sheffield Today) An air hostess from Sheffield wrestled a drunken passenger to the floor as he tried to open the door of a Boeing 757 - 2,000ft above the ground. The plane was about to land at the Malta International Airport. The passenger, a 45-year-old jobless window cleaner from West Yorkshire, had been travelling with a team of amateur footballers to play a Maltese team. He was allowed to stay for his holiday, but was arrested when he returned to Manchester Airport. He was charged and later jailed for being drunk and endangering the lives of passengers on an aircraft. The air hostess, Emma Monckton, has landed a police accolade for preventing a potential disaster on the holiday flight when she knocked the burly passenger to the floor as he tried to wrench the door open. Air chiefs said if he had succeeded Emma and the passenger could have fallen from the plane and been sucked into one of the aircraft's engines. The 25-year-old from Sheffield sprang into action when she saw the passenger make for an exit as the plane she was working on was about to land in Malta. The Thomas Cook air stewardess had just taken her seat for landing when she spotted the man stagger to one of the Boeing 757's doors. Emma reacted immediately by jumping up and struggling with the passenger to prevent him lowering a lever which would open the door. A Thomas Cook spokesman said: "Had he succeeded, the hinges of the door would have come away inflating a safety shoot. One false step and Emma and the passenger would have fallen from the plane and could have died by being sucked into one of the aircraft's engines just eight feet away." Putting all her introductory training into use, Emma managed to knock the passenger to the ground. "After recovering, he started to make his way towards the cockpit, but was prevented by other cabin crew who, realising what was happening, came to Emma's rescue," said the spokesman. Now Emma's actions in restraining the lout have earned her a special accolade from Greater Manchester Airport Police after she was nominated for a Royal Humane Society Bravery award. Chief Insp Martin Gaffney said: "Undoubtedly Emma's quick-thinking actions on the day prevented a potentially catastrophic situation." Emma was also praised by Glen Chipp, managing director of Thomas Cook Airlines UK. "Emma came up trumps by wrestling a very large drunken man to the ground, preventing what could have been a major disaster," he said. Emma, who is modest about her bravery, revealed she is still haunted by the events of that flight. "Whenever I see a large group of men coming towards me, I momentarily panic," she said. "The next time a Malta flight came up on my roster I would have given anything to have got out of going, but I'm happy about flying there now." She added: "Anyone of the crew would have done the same I did. Those who could safely leave their seats came to my rescue. It was a team effort in the end." And, despite her continuing nightmares about her ordeal, Emma revealed she has no intention of finding work at ground level - she hopes to train as a pilot.