UPDATE: Dolores of the Cranberries Arrested for Kicking a Flight Attendant and Head-Butting (!!!) a Cop

Given the state of civil aviation, I have some sympathy for people who let the dogs of air rage slip. Traveling by air can be a miserable experience. Still, there’s no excuse for something like this.

Little Dolores O’Riordan–all five-foot-nothing of her–was detained at Shannon Airport in Ireland after Aer Lingus flight 110 landed from JFK on Sunday. It’s alleged that she stomped on a flight attendant’s foot so hard that it broke. The woman had to be taken to hospital.

That’s bad enough. But then it’s alleged that an angry, detained Dolores head-butted–head-butted!–a cop during the arrest. And then she spit at him.  That landed her in the slammer for 24 hours.

Why the rage? No clue. The only report I’ve been able to find is that twenty minutes from landing, Dolores refused to take her seat and became “disruptive.”

From the Irish Independent:

One eyewitness said: “I was in sitting in economy with my husband and heard the commotion in business class. There was a woman standing up and she was shouting. It was about 20 minutes before landing but to be honest, we didn’t think much of it at first.”

“It quietened down for a while and after landing it started again. We could see all this up along the aisle. We were told by the crew that there was a delay with the steps because ground staff weren’t on duty yet. Our flight was nearly and hour and a half early,” she said.

[…]

“When the front door was opened, some people in hi-vis jackets got on and the curtains between business and economy were closed. We could still hear the commotion.”

“The curtains were opened a few times and at one stage we saw the woman thumping the ceiling of the plane. It was only after we got off the plane that we heard who it was. She was roaring at the cabin crew and at one stage I heard her say – ‘I pay may taxes’ ,” the passenger added.

“There was also a large man standing up talking to the cabin crew but we don’t know if he was with her or just another passenger,” she said.

I’m guessing that the “large man” was Dolores’ husband, Canadian Don Burton.  He’s a big ‘un.

As the plane was taxiing to the gate, she once again left her seat. That’s when she stomped on the flight attendant’s foot. The pilot radioed for assistance and authorities were at the gate to meet Dolores. That’s when the alleged head-butting and spitting occurred. From there, Dolores ended up in a hospital in Limerick. She was discharged Tuesday and released without any charges being filed. But that doesn’t mean she’s off the hook because the investigation continues. Charges could still be filed at a later date.

I’ve talked with Dolores many times and she’s always been very sweet. I wonder what went wrong?