Woman at center of flight fight: I only wanted to buy chocolate
Sarit, who was caught on video hurling abuse at crew during Israir flight to Varna, says her behavior was out of character.
"We had no run-in beforehand. We may have been speaking loudly, our entire group, but we weren't drunk. That's not true," says Sarit, the "star" of a viral video showing her fight with a flight attendant over the sale of duty-free chocolate on an Israir flight.
Sarit and her husband, Kobi, have apologized, claiming their behavior was out of character, but have continued at the same time to blame the flight attendant for the incident.
"I simply wanted to buy some chocolate," Sarit explains. "I said 'Excuse me,' to the flight attendant and he didn't respond. I said 'Excuse me' again, and he didn't take any notice. I couldn’t understand why he was ignoring me. When the duty free cart reached us, he said to me: 'We're not selling to you, personally.' I wanted to know what I had done to him."
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At that point, Sarit's sister, Hagit, intervened and started yelling, and things got out of hand.
"It all heated up after the flight attendant told my sister he'd make sure she didn't get into Varna," Sarit says. "Her boyfriend stood up and started cursing, and I got caught up in the heat of the moment. I never speak like that, never. I don't know what got into me and apologize for every word that was said there; but if they had sold me the chocolate to begin with, none of it would have happened."
Their vacation in Varna was going well until relatives from Israel called the couple on Saturday night to tell them of the video clip that was on the Internet.
"I was finished. The responses of the passengers who were with us, who analyzed everything, fanned the fires. They made us out to be criminals. I'm a mother who is raising three fine children; I hold a senior position at work, provide excellent service and have received commendations on my work on a number of occasions.
"I'm 42. I'm allowed to shout, but I never curse. The person you see in the video isn't me; I don't know myself like that. I'd do anything to be able to turn back the clock. My life since Saturday has come to an end. I'm living on medication; people who don’t know me are yelling at me. I admit it; I tripped up, but I hope that's the end of it."
The family's apology probably saved its skin, and Israir is unlikely to file a complaint with the police.
"There was no physical violence. The passengers caused a verbal disturbance. We are conducting an internal probe into the incident," said Israir CEO Uri Sirkis, adding that the fact that the clip was uploaded onto the Internet would deter others from behaving in such a manner in the future.
