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 The 35-year-old former Olympic champion was spoken to by police
after the incident on a flight from the Australian Olympic trials in
Adelaide to Melbourne.
Hackett has admitted to a dependence on prescription drugs in the
past but said on Friday that the incident on the plane had come
after he had been drinking in the wake of his failure to secure a
spot on the team for this year's Rio Olympics.
"Illicit drugs are not an issue here. I get the prescription
medication (inferences) from the history I have had, but certainly
no. It was purely alcohol," he told reporters on the Gold Coast.
"I will seek help. I have decided to get off the drink - I don't
want to see my life in this situation again.
 "There is a deep sense of shame and regret for those it impacts and
my kids are at the front of that line."
The Queenslander denied reports he had tweaked the nipple of his
fellow passenger in the row over the reclining of a seat.
"I can't vouch for the person who is sitting ahead of me but
everyone sitting around me has stated the same thing," he added.
"If I did touch him inappropriately I am very sorry. I have spoken
to the gentleman and apologized profusely.
"I’ve chatted with (him) several times and sorted it out and on a
personal level everything is fine."
Hackett won back-to-back Olympic 1,500 meters freestyle titles at
the 2000 and 2004 Games as well as gold in the 4x200m freestyle
relay in Athens.
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Ten-times a world champion and former holder of a string of world
records, he came out of a six-year retirement to compete in the
relay at last year's world championships.
In retrospect, Hackett said, he should have ended his comeback after
he qualified to swim at Kazan.
"I came back for the love of it and the love was taken away when the
attention came on board," he said.
"A lot of the focus on my personal life and history came up. I found
that emotionally extremely difficult to deal with. I really should
have pulled myself out of the team."
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
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