Drunk, unruly RIM executives were tied up on an Air Canada flight—and then chewed through their restraints

The basic story reported two weeks ago was amusing enough—two Research in Motion executives get in a drunken row on a plane to Beijing, force it to land and then get sacked—but court documents and eyewitness accounts have revealed just how desperate the situation really was (we’re talking plastic handcuffs, packing tape and temper tantrum desperate here).

The CBC has the story:

New details are emerging about the rowdy behaviour of two Research In Motion executives who were fired for disrupting an intercontinental flight — including that they managed to chew their way out of restraints after being handcuffed by crew members.

According to one witness, RIM execs George Campbell and Paul Alexander Wilson were thoroughly sloshed before getting on the plane and took what were allegedly (hopefully) sleeping pills. As the prosecutor noted, “One doesn’t want to be taking drugs into China.” Once on board, the pair continued screaming, swearing and smacking each other, receiving a yellow card (they exist) from attendants. A flight attendant said at one point that Campbell lay face down in the aisle and threw a temper tantrum. He also supposedly threatened to “off people when they left the plane,” and told one passenger, “I know who you are and I’ll get you.” Not to be outdone, Wilson is said to have shoved one attendant and threatened to punch out another. Given the extent of their actions (Air Canada estimates the detour cost upwards of $200,000), a mischief conviction, $72,000 fine and termination might have been getting off easy for these mad men.

• Fired RIM execs ‘chewed through restraints’ on flight [CBC News]
• Drunk ex-RIM execs went ‘totally off the deep end’ on flight, says eyewitness [Canadian Business]
• More on the high-flying RIM execs [CBC News]

(Images: BlackBerry, Cheon Fong Liew; Old-timey man, Dan Century; handcuffed hands, vector portal; Air Canada plane, BriYYZ; Samuel Adams, Hop Talk)