$20 million is enough to ease Pavel’s pain

June 20th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanE

Because the time and energy of former NHL stars is nearly priceless, I fully support Pavel Bure in his quest to wring $20 million out of the cold, grimy hands of British Airways. From Kuklas Corner (via CSTB):

The famous hockey player Pavel Bure filed a lawsuit against the largest British airline British Airways because he was thrown out of the plane. The pilot had mistaken Bure for a soccer hooligan and flatly refused to lift the airplane in the air with suspicious passenger on board.

The police had to withdraw Pavel Bure from the flight. Now hockey player is asking British Airways 20 million dollars for moral compensation, said his lawyer Dmitry Ragulin.

“The incident occurred on October 31. My client was forced to leave the plane, fly another flight in Economy class and it took him over 24 hours to reach the final destination (Los Angeles). The lawsuit is first and foremost about the compensation for moral harm because we have not received any apology from the airline. All that we have received is the letter expressing regret over the incident and a hope that our client would use the airline in the future.”

I totally feel Pavel’s pain. It’s not easy to be famous and on an airplane and being mistaken for a soccer hooligan. Granted, Pavel was wearing a Carlsberg scarf, swilling Newcastle, singing “God Save the Queen” and eating decidedly drab food — you can see where the pilot might have been a bit confused. Still, $20 million is a modest sum for the time one of America’s Canada’s Russia’s most prized athletic specimens.

Teddy KGB accent: Pay thayt mayn … his money!