He then went into the first-class compartment, which was also carrying Portuguese president Mário Soares and Argentinian foreign minister Guido di Tella and their security details.

The pilots tried to divert to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but were refused since the presence of foreign dignitaries on board created a security risk.

Finneran's attorneys claimed he had been suffering from a severe case of traveler's diarrhea and had been prevented from using the first-class toilet to his seat just outside that section by Soares's security.

He pleaded guilty and was fined $5,000, with two years' probation; he had also agreed to perform community service and pay $48,000 to reimburse United's cleanup costs and the other passengers for their airfare.

He found a drinks cart, climbed atop it, crouched down, lowered his pants and underwear, and defecated on the floor behind it,[7]: 3  in full view of other passengers, using the linen napkins to wipe himself.

The crew sprayed Karl Lagerfeld perfume throughout the aisles of the plane to further mask the smell of feces; food service was also canceled due to the unhygienic conditions.

Controllers there refused permission since among the other passengers in first class were Portuguese president Mário Soares and Argentinian foreign minister Guido di Tella and their security details,[1] traveling to New York for the United Nations' 50th anniversary celebrations.

Ten days later federal magistrate Joan Azrack granted the prosecution's request to amend the terms of Finneran's bail to require that he attend an alcohol counseling program and not fly anywhere without the court's permission.

[5] At that hearing Stillman told the court that his client had agreed to reimburse the airline $1,000 for its cleaning costs, as well as every other passenger's airfare, which came to $48,000, and do 300 hours of community service.

A week afterwards, David Letterman read off the "Top Ten Gerard Finneran Excuses", such as "You try drinking for 14 hours and see if you can tell the difference between a food cart and a bathroom" and "Thought he heard somebody yell, 'We're going to crash!'

In the later years of his life, he volunteered with the South Forty Corporation, a not-for-profit organization that helps convicts find employment and housing after their sentences end.

[4] "It'll be hard to ever top that nasty bit of air rage, at least short of an actual act of terrorism", Forbes wrote in 2015 after an incident involving hotel heir Conrad Hilton III on a flight from London to Los Angeles.