Women tries to open plane door cigarete

French woman tried to pop out for mid-flight ciggie
A French woman nearly disappeared in a real cloud of smoke when she tried to open the door of an airliner so she could pop out for a mid-flight fag.

The BBC reports that Sandrine Helene Sellies has an acute fear of flying, and on a long flight from Hong Kong to Brisbane, resorted to a traditional Gallic remedy – sleeping tablets washed down with alcohol.

That little cocktail certainly did the trick. In fact, Sellies' sense of fear was so dulled that she thought it would be a good idea to pop out for a relaxing fag. She was seen heading for one of the emergency exits clutching her lighter and tabs.

Sellies began ''tampering'' with the door and was only prevented from enjoying her last cigarette by a sharp-eyed flight attendant – perhaps she was concerned that Sellies had cracked open the duty free mid-flight.

Sellies subsequently pleaded guilty to endangering the safety of an aircraft at Brisbane Magistrates Court. She was hit with a AUS$1,000 good behaviour bond. If she makes another attempt to join the mile-high smoking club in the next year, she'll forfeit the dosh.

Presumably the bench looked kindly on Sellies' defense – her brief said the hapless Madame had no memory whatsoever of the incident. We're pretty sure a couple of hundred other passengers are wishing they could erase the incident from their memories too.



(The Register)