Unruly Passengers Getting Out of Hand

[Guest1]

Sadly seems to have become a daily event.   Videos show a woman kicking, spitting at, and pulling the hair of airline passengers after being called out for not wearing a mask (yahoo.com)

 

 

Videos show a woman kicking, spitting at, and pulling the hair of airline passengers after being called out for not wearing a mask

jzitser@businessinsider.com (Joshua Zitser)  5 hrs ago

 Screenshots from a video showing a Ryanair passenger verbally and physically assaulting other passengers. SpentyKel/ YouTube

• A woman assaulted passengers on a Ryanair flight after she refused to wear a mask, the New Zealand Herald reported.
• Video footage shows her pulling a passenger's hair and kicking two men.
• She was handed over to police officers at Milan Bergamo airport after the flight landed, Ryanair said.
• See more stories on Insider's business page.

A woman was filmed attacking fellow passengers after being called out for not wearing a mask on a flight, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Viral footage shows the woman wearing a facemask on her chin while she verbally assaults passengers.

As tensions escalate, she can be seen pulling at a woman's hair before spitting at others on board the Ryanair flight from Ibiza to Milan Bergamo on May 26.

Video player from: YouTube (Privacy Policy, Terms)

Later in the clip, crew members try to escort her off the plane. While being held back, she kicks two men. The crew of this flight from Ibiza to Milan Bergamo (26 May) requested police assistance upon arrival after a passenger became disruptive in-flight," a Ryanair spokesperson told Insider.

"The aircraft landed normally, and police removed the individual at Milan Bergamo airport. This is now a matter for local police," the spokesperson added.

Unruly passengers are a growing problem for airlines, Insider's Allana Akhtar reported. The Federal Aviation Administration, an American civil aviation agency, said it had received 2,500 reports of disorderly behavior by passengers since January 2021. About 1,900 of the reports deal with passengers who refused to comply with the federal facemask mandate.

In April, Southwest Airlines passengers danced and cheered as a couple accused of refusing to wear masks were thrown off a flight.

In late May, a Southwest Airlines passenger punched a flight attendant in the face after repeatedly ignoring in-flight instructions.

[Guest1]

More Unruly Passengers: Fight Breaks Out At Miami Check In Desks

• byJake Hardiman
• June 6, 2021
•  

In what seems to have become an increasingly common occurrence in recent times, footage of yet another fight at an airport has emerged on social media. The tussle took place earlier this week at Florida’s Miami International Airport (MIA). In this instance, the exact location of the conflict was landside, in front of check-in desks for American Airlines.

Miami is a key hub for American Airlines. Photo: prayitnophotography via Flickr

The pre-flight fight

The video, uploaded by Twitter user Billy Corben, shows the two participants trading blows while a third seemingly attempts to intervene. As Live and Let’s Fly observes, the check-in counter in front of which the tussle took place wasn’t operational at the time of the incident. This is just as well, as the fracas eventually spilled into the baggage belt.

Meanwhile at MIA… #BecauseMiami pic.twitter.com/6IgdPJAkOO

— Billy Corben (@BillyCorben) June 4, 2021

 

This meant that no staff members were caught up in the incident, which could otherwise have jeopardized their safety. It is unclear what caused the fight, or whether anyone else was involved, as the limited footage that has emerged doesn’t run from start to finish. Needless to say, it will have been a shocking thing for unexpecting passengers to come across.

[Guest1]

[Airband]

Is Air Rage Caused by Class Warfare?

A post-pandemic problem on flights isn’t about alcohol or shrinking legroom.

June 7, 2021 - Bloomberg News
By Stephen Mihm

Since the beginning of the year, the Federal Aviation Administration has reported a sharp uptick in the number of passengers behaving badly. In a typical year, the Federal Aviation Administration logs between 100 and 200 incidents. In the first three months of 2021, it reported a whopping 1300, despite the fact that the number of passengers was still well below normal levels.

It’s difficult to account for this recent uptick, but it’s hard to dispute that air rage has become a growing problem over the past few decades. The usual explanations – shrinking legroom, alcohol, and flight delays – have merit. But these are arguably overshadowed by a decades-long trend: the transformation of air travel from an elite prerogative to a service that divides passengers into haves and have nots.

This wasn’t a problem in the early years of aviation – and not necessarily because wealthy passengers were better behaved. Look carefully at the interior of the Pan Am Clipper, which crossed the oceans in the late 1930s. They featured comfortable beds, luxurious fittings, and delicious dinners served on china. These flying palaces gave passengers a remarkable amount of room to sit, lounge, walk and mingle. They weren’t claustrophobic in the least.

Most important of all, perhaps, was the fact that they weren’t stratified by class: Everyone enjoyed the same luxuries. There was no distinction between first class, business class and coach. Every passenger belonged to the elite.

The idea of different classes of passengers was born in the postwar era, but at first, this didn’t mean putting people into seats of different sizes and comfort levels. Instead, “coach class” in these years simply meant a ticket on a plane that made more stops. All passengers on these planes sat in precisely the same seats and enjoyed the same amenities and legroom as passengers on non-stop flights. It simply took longer to get to your destination.

The problem of air rage arguably traces its origins to a momentous shift in travel unleashed in 1952. That year, the Civil Aeronautics Board in the U.S. and its global counterpart, the International Air Transport Association, began permitting flights that charged passengers different fares on the same flight. In 1955, planes began flying with different “classes” of seats. While first-class seats continued to enjoy amenities, coach-class seats began their long slide into discomfort, losing legroom with every passing decade.

Not coincidentally, it was precisely in these years that you can find the first expressions of concern over unruly passenger behavior. Conventional wisdom held that alcohol was to blame. Senator Strom Thurmond became the public face of reform, introducing legislation banning airlines from serving booze. He argued that children should not be corrupted by “flying saloons.”

The Civil Aeronautics Board disagreed. It reviewed all the cases of alcohol-fueled bad behavior, concluding that none imperiled other passengers, much less planes. Thurmond’s legislation went nowhere, though airlines adopted a “voluntary” pledge to make sure that passengers weren’t served more than two drinks each. In the end, the push to ban alcohol died out by the 1960s.

In the 1970s, high fuel prices accelerated the inequalities that increasingly defined air travel. As airlines struggled to make money, they crammed in ever more coach seats into the same space, while cutting amenities for coach-class passengers. Yet air travel remained highly regulated; individual carriers had little leeway in setting fares. But in 1978, President Jimmy Carter unleashed the power of the free market on air travel, deregulating the industry.

Airlines responded by creating ever more extreme distinctions between different classes of passengers. Passengers willing to withstand ever-shrinking levels of legroom and bare-bones service could now fly far more cheaply, if uncomfortably, sitting at the back of planes while their well-heeled counterparts enjoyed free drinks and plenty of room at the front. It was during this era that air rage suddenly became increasingly common.

An academic study of air rage incidents published in 2016 shed some light on the issue. It found that the presence of a first-class section made it 3.84 times more likely that someone in economy class would act out. This rage-inducing effect was equivalent to delaying a plane by 9 hours and 29 minutes. Likewise, making economy-class passengers board from the front of the plane – where they get to see the comfort enjoyed by first-class or business-class passengers – had a similar, if lesser effect.

Understood this way, the growing reports of air rage that appeared in the 1980s and 1990s weren’t a function of the fact that economy-class passengers found themselves crammed in ever-smaller seats, but that the inequality in seating arrangements grew, often dramatically, during these years. The bargain-basement seats grew ever narrower, while the business-class seats gained amenities.  

There’s nothing inherently wrong with this: narrower, more cramped seats are cheaper, enabling more people to travel. If they want the legroom, they can pay extra for it. But as this study makes clear, such rational thinking may not prevail when passengers find themselves parked on a runway in cramped, uncomfortable seats while they watch well-heeled customers relax, surrounded by creature comforts. That’s particularly the case when alcohol gets added to the mix, loosening people’s inhibitions.

Airlines have responded in predictable fashion, attacking the symptoms of the problem. They’ve trained flight attendants to disarm belligerent passengers and handcuff them. They’ve cut back on alcohol as well. But at the same time, the distance between the most comfortable and least comfortable on planes has only increased. It’s also gotten more stratified, with intermediate seating classes that, perversely, may foster more resentment.

There’s no obvious solution to this. Abolishing luxury seating isn’t particularly practical. But at the very least, the FAA may want to consider defining a reasonable lower bound to the distance between rows and the width of seats. Legislation passed by Congress in 2018 enjoins the FAA to do precisely that. But so far it hasn’t set these standards and shows no sign of doing so.

Which means that for now, air rage is likely to remain an issue for the simple reason that contemporary air travel hammers home the fact that social inequality is, quite literally, a pain in the butt.

[J.O.]

The vast majority of recent air rage cases are started by people who disagree with mandatory mask policies. How is that class warfare? 

[Specs]

I think it has more to do with taking away people freedoms and treating them like, well.........cattle. 

 

[J.O.]

How do these people survive in a world that’s literally full of rules that define acceptable behaviour? Sheesh.

[Guest1]

Delta passenger allegedly makes terroristic threats, assaults flight attendants 

A cross-country Delta flight was diverted to Oklahoma after an unruly passenger allegedly made terroristic threats and assaulted two flight attendants, according to police.

The suspect, Stephon Jamar Duncan, allegedly said he was going to take down the plane Friday evening while it was en route from Los Angeles to Atlanta, Oklahoma City police spokesman Jermaine Johnson said.

1.    After Duncan allegedly assaulted two flight attendants, an off-duty pilot helped subdue him, Johnson said. Delta said crew and passengers onboard flight 1730 also helped overpower the suspect. No one was hurt.

The plane landed in Oklahoma City without incident and the passenger was removed by law enforcement, a Delta spokesperson said. The plane was searched and cleared and then allowed to resume travel to Atlanta, Johnson said.

Duncan was arrested and taken to a hospital after reporting chest pains and exhibiting signs of mental health issues, police said.

[internet]

On 6/7/2021 at 11:12 AM, Airband said:

Is Air Rage Caused by Class Warfare?

A post-pandemic problem on flights isn’t about alcohol or shrinking legroom.

June 7, 2021 - Bloomberg News
By Stephen Mihm

Since the beginning of the year, the Federal Aviation Administration has reported a sharp uptick in the number of passengers behaving badly. In a typical year, the Federal Aviation Administration logs between 100 and 200 incidents. In the first three months of 2021, it reported a whopping 1300, despite the fact that the number of passengers was still well below normal levels.

It’s difficult to account for this recent uptick, but it’s hard to dispute that air rage has become a growing problem over the past few decades. The usual explanations – shrinking legroom, alcohol, and flight delays – have merit. But these are arguably overshadowed by a decades-long trend: the transformation of air travel from an elite prerogative to a service that divides passengers into haves and have nots.

This wasn’t a problem in the early years of aviation – and not necessarily because wealthy passengers were better behaved. Look carefully at the interior of the Pan Am Clipper, which crossed the oceans in the late 1930s. They featured comfortable beds, luxurious fittings, and delicious dinners served on china. These flying palaces gave passengers a remarkable amount of room to sit, lounge, walk and mingle. They weren’t claustrophobic in the least.

Most important of all, perhaps, was the fact that they weren’t stratified by class: Everyone enjoyed the same luxuries. There was no distinction between first class, business class and coach. Every passenger belonged to the elite.

The idea of different classes of passengers was born in the postwar era, but at first, this didn’t mean putting people into seats of different sizes and comfort levels. Instead, “coach class” in these years simply meant a ticket on a plane that made more stops. All passengers on these planes sat in precisely the same seats and enjoyed the same amenities and legroom as passengers on non-stop flights. It simply took longer to get to your destination.

The problem of air rage arguably traces its origins to a momentous shift in travel unleashed in 1952. That year, the Civil Aeronautics Board in the U.S. and its global counterpart, the International Air Transport Association, began permitting flights that charged passengers different fares on the same flight. In 1955, planes began flying with different “classes” of seats. While first-class seats continued to enjoy amenities, coach-class seats began their long slide into discomfort, losing legroom with every passing decade.

Not coincidentally, it was precisely in these years that you can find the first expressions of concern over unruly passenger behavior. Conventional wisdom held that alcohol was to blame. Senator Strom Thurmond became the public face of reform, introducing legislation banning airlines from serving booze. He argued that children should not be corrupted by “flying saloons.”

The Civil Aeronautics Board disagreed. It reviewed all the cases of alcohol-fueled bad behavior, concluding that none imperiled other passengers, much less planes. Thurmond’s legislation went nowhere, though airlines adopted a “voluntary” pledge to make sure that passengers weren’t served more than two drinks each. In the end, the push to ban alcohol died out by the 1960s.

In the 1970s, high fuel prices accelerated the inequalities that increasingly defined air travel. As airlines struggled to make money, they crammed in ever more coach seats into the same space, while cutting amenities for coach-class passengers. Yet air travel remained highly regulated; individual carriers had little leeway in setting fares. But in 1978, President Jimmy Carter unleashed the power of the free market on air travel, deregulating the industry.

Airlines responded by creating ever more extreme distinctions between different classes of passengers. Passengers willing to withstand ever-shrinking levels of legroom and bare-bones service could now fly far more cheaply, if uncomfortably, sitting at the back of planes while their well-heeled counterparts enjoyed free drinks and plenty of room at the front. It was during this era that air rage suddenly became increasingly common.

An academic study of air rage incidents published in 2016 shed some light on the issue. It found that the presence of a first-class section made it 3.84 times more likely that someone in economy class would act out. This rage-inducing effect was equivalent to delaying a plane by 9 hours and 29 minutes. Likewise, making economy-class passengers board from the front of the plane – where they get to see the comfort enjoyed by first-class or business-class passengers – had a similar, if lesser effect.

Understood this way, the growing reports of air rage that appeared in the 1980s and 1990s weren’t a function of the fact that economy-class passengers found themselves crammed in ever-smaller seats, but that the inequality in seating arrangements grew, often dramatically, during these years. The bargain-basement seats grew ever narrower, while the business-class seats gained amenities.  

There’s nothing inherently wrong with this: narrower, more cramped seats are cheaper, enabling more people to travel. If they want the legroom, they can pay extra for it. But as this study makes clear, such rational thinking may not prevail when passengers find themselves parked on a runway in cramped, uncomfortable seats while they watch well-heeled customers relax, surrounded by creature comforts. That’s particularly the case when alcohol gets added to the mix, loosening people’s inhibitions.

Airlines have responded in predictable fashion, attacking the symptoms of the problem. They’ve trained flight attendants to disarm belligerent passengers and handcuff them. They’ve cut back on alcohol as well. But at the same time, the distance between the most comfortable and least comfortable on planes has only increased. It’s also gotten more stratified, with intermediate seating classes that, perversely, may foster more resentment.

There’s no obvious solution to this. Abolishing luxury seating isn’t particularly practical. But at the very least, the FAA may want to consider defining a reasonable lower bound to the distance between rows and the width of seats. Legislation passed by Congress in 2018 enjoins the FAA to do precisely that. But so far it hasn’t set these standards and shows no sign of doing so.

Which means that for now, air rage is likely to remain an issue for the simple reason that contemporary air travel hammers home the fact that social inequality is, quite literally, a pain in the butt.

This is a ridiculous notion masked in the modern day society’s new found fad “inequality”.

[Guest1]

35 minutes ago, internet said:

This is a ridiculous notion masked in the modern day society’s new found fad “inequality”.

Correct, it merely is a reflection of an overall disregard for the rights and comfort of others ...... and instead reflects a growing "me first" attitude. 

[Guest1]

Unruly Passenger And Smoking Cellphone Causes Southwest Airlines Diversion

• byPranjal Pande
• June 13, 2021
• 3 minute read

ADVERTISEMENT

Following a bizarre onboard situation, a Southwest Airlines flight from Dallas to Fort Lauderdale was diverted to Pensacola on Wednesday. The flight made an emergency landing after two passengers began arguing and one of them slapped the other with a cellphone, causing it to smolder and raise fire risks. The aircraft landed safely with no injuries. Let’s find out more.

 

Escalating

The incident occurred on Southwest flight WN-4699 from Dallas Love Field to Fort Lauderdale Airport on Wednesday (9th June). However, the usual 2 hours and 55-minute flight took a dramatic turn after two passengers onboard got into a fight which quickly escalated to a physical confrontation.

The flight took off from Dallas at 14:30 local time, 25 minutes behind schedule. Things went smoothly for the first hour of the flight, with the aircraft making its way into the Gulf of Mexico and toward the tip of Florida. However, in the back of the plane, two passengers began verbally arguing, with the confrontation escalating from there.

According to AvHerald, the argument turned physical when the plane was about 110 nautical miles away from Pensacola, just entering the Gulf of Mexico. The female passenger reportedly slapped the male neighbor with a cellphone. The phone subsequently began smoldering, with an alarmed passenger warning of a fire. The crew quickly jumped into action.

The flight made a sharp left turn to deal with the unruly passengers on the ground in Pensacola. Map and Data: RadarBox.com

The cabin crew quickly rushed to the scene of the smoking phone to contain the situation and prevent an onboard fire. According to a statement by Southwest, seen in Local 10, the crew placed the phone in a battery containment bag to ensure it does not catch fire. One passenger near the scene was all praise for the crew’s response, saying,

“Everyone kind of went crazy and then all of a sudden we see smoke and I heard the words ‘fire’ and then next to us there was the object literally smoking…They [the cabin crew] truly made everyone feel super safe, and I can not be more grateful for how the situation ended.”

Action taken

The aircraft landed in Pensacola at 16:05 local time, a full 2 hours and 37 minutes after departing from Dallas. Upon landing, law enforcement promptly offloaded the two passengers who were traveling together. Footage shows at least two officers escorting the pair off the plane, along with a young child as well.

The issue of violent altercations onboard has increased significantly in the last year as more passengers return to the skies. In response, the FAA has issued strict penalties against anyone endangering crew or flight safety. For now, cabin crew remain on top of situations such as this one and ensure everyone remains safe.

[Guest1]

Unruly airline passengers face thousands in fines

Allison Elyse Gualtieri  28 mins ago

A passenger on a JetBlue flight from New York has been accused of putting her finger in her nose and yelling and cursing at a flight attendant who asked her to put on her mask, forcing the plane to land in Fort Lauderdale instead of Cancun. The incident is one of four in which people accused of disrupting flights are facing fines as high as $15,500, the Federal Aviation Administration announced Monday.

it has received more than 3,000 reports of unruly passenger behavior since the beginning of the year. The announcement comes after two Delta flights were diverted last week because of unruly passengers.

The fines for the four different incidents, all of which occurred in February, were announced as post-pandemic travel picks up: More than 5.9 million passengers were screened by the Transportation Security Administration from Friday through Sunday, the most in a three-day period in the last 15 months.

That JetBlue passenger is facing a fine of $10,500, while another accused of ignoring flight attendants who told him to wear his mask while not eating or drinking at least 10 times and drinking mini bottles of alcohol staff members had not served him is facing a $15,500 fine.

An Alaska Airlines passenger headed from Boise, Idaho, to Los Angeles is accused of smoking an e-cigarette in the onboard bathroom, setting off the smoke detector, and ignoring flight attendants' request to wear a mask. He is facing a $10,300 fine.

In the final incident announced Monday, a Southwest Airlines passenger traveling from Fort Myers, Florida, to Denver also refused to wear a mask when asked by flight attendants, and is facing a $7,500 fine. More than 2,300 of the incidents reported to the FAA involved passengers refusing to wear masks.

The fines are the latest requested under the FAA's zero-tolerance policy, which has imposed eye-popping penalties on passengers for disruptive behavior since it was announced in January, including a $52,000 fine for a passenger who tried to open the cockpit door and hit a flight attendant in the face. 

Errol Barnett contributed to this report.

[Kip Powick]

The key word in the above article concerning fines is "FACING".

Hopefully the judicial system, (USA), "hammers" all these people and makes a very public display  out of their stupidity or there will probably be more "unruly"  occurrences.

[mo32a]

I would place all of them on the permanent no-fly list.

[Guest1]

16 minutes ago, mo32a said:

I would place all of them on the permanent no-fly list.

Great idea except, there apparently is no shared "No Fly" list, only individual ones for a specific airline.

[mo32a]

^Don't think so....

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Fly_List

[Guest1]

57 minutes ago, mo32a said:

^Don't think so....

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Fly_List

I guess I should have said, there is no world wide list ......   but I am not sure that the list you talk about is the same as those maintained by individual airlines.   There is a Government no fly list that evidently is not the same as those belonging to individual airlines.  I could of course be wrong but here is an article on the subject.

Adding Domestic Extremists to the No-Fly List - Lawfare (lawfareblog.com)

[J.O.]

I don’t recall all of the details but I do remember a ruling from several years ago that prohibited the Canadian carriers from sharing their “no fly” lists with each other. I can’t recall if that was tried in court or if it was appealed through the CTA.

Edited June 15, 2021 by J.O.

[Guest1]

Flight attendants describe ‘unprecedented’ violence as travel returns and passenger aggression soars

Story Link: Flight attendants describe 'unprecedented' violence as travel returns and passenger aggression soars (businessinsider.nl)

[Guest1]

Flight attendants will get self-defense lessons to protect themselves from violent passengers, the TSA said, as reports of unruly flyers reach record highs

Story Link

Flight Attendants Get Self-Defense Classes for Violent Passengers (businessinsider.com)

[Guest1]

LAX: Man jumps from plane after trying to access cockpit

Published

24 minutes agoETTY IMAGES

A man has jumped from a moving plane at Los Angeles International Airport after attempting to access the jet's cockpit.

The man, who was not identified, opened the plane's door and fled via the emergency slide on Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.

He was detained on the taxiway and taken to hospital with unspecified injuries.

There has been a rise in incidents on flights in the US. About 3,000 incidents have been recorded this year.

Friday's incident occurred at 19.10 local time (02:10 GMT Saturday) aboard a United Express flight, operated by SkyWest Airlines, to Salt Lake City.

Flight crew reported seeing the passenger getting up from his seat as the plane taxied towards the runway. They said he had pounded on the cockpit door before exiting the plane through the emergency door, NBC News reports.

The plane, an Embraer 175 regional jet, later returned to its gate.

Authorities have launched an investigation into the incident and the passenger's motives.

• Eleven charged over Luton Airport fight
• Woman jailed for mid-flight door-opening bid

Earlier this month the FAA said it had investigated the highest number of potential breaches of the law since records began in 1995. Many of those are in relation to incidents where people have refused to wear a mask.

The agency said some 394 cases of passengers allegedly "interfering with the duties of a crew member" had been reported as of 25 May.

This is twice as many as the whole of last year, when 183 cases were investigated.

 

[conehead]

30 minutes ago, Kargokings said:

LAX: Man jumps from plane after trying to access cockpit

Published

24 minutes agoETTY IMAGES

A man has jumped from a moving plane at Los Angeles International Airport after attempting to access the jet's cockpit.

The man, who was not identified, opened the plane's door and fled via the emergency slide on Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.

He was detained on the taxiway and taken to hospital with unspecified injuries.

There has been a rise in incidents on flights in the US. About 3,000 incidents have been recorded this year.

Friday's incident occurred at 19.10 local time (02:10 GMT Saturday) aboard a United Express flight, operated by SkyWest Airlines, to Salt Lake City.

Flight crew reported seeing the passenger getting up from his seat as the plane taxied towards the runway. They said he had pounded on the cockpit door before exiting the plane through the emergency door, NBC News reports.

The plane, an Embraer 175 regional jet, later returned to its gate.

Authorities have launched an investigation into the incident and the passenger's motives.

• Eleven charged over Luton Airport fight
• Woman jailed for mid-flight door-opening bid

Earlier this month the FAA said it had investigated the highest number of potential breaches of the law since records began in 1995. Many of those are in relation to incidents where people have refused to wear a mask.

The agency said some 394 cases of passengers allegedly "interfering with the duties of a crew member" had been reported as of 25 May.

This is twice as many as the whole of last year, when 183 cases were investigated.

 

I’ll bet that was exciting for everyone on board!

[Canoehead]

There doesn't seem to be steep enough consequences for people anymore. Media likes to glorify these events.  They are clickbait and revenue generators.  And the neglected people in life get their fame for a few minutes.  It's a win-win for media and the antagonists.  The media never seems to follow up with the aftermath of court proceedings and maybe some jail time for people... but there actually might not be anything to report because the lawyers look after everything behind the scenes.  

And so the circle continues to revolve.  Fame for the aggressive pax, clickbait for the media, revenue for the lawyers.  The airlines get no support from lawmakers (maybe on the surface but certainly not in the end), and we, the "professional pilots and flight attendants" are left to look like we drive shuttle busses between the Maury Pauvich and Dr. Phil sets.

[Guest1]

On 6/26/2021 at 10:54 AM, Canoehead said:

There doesn't seem to be steep enough consequences for people anymore.

Press Release – FAA Releases New PSA, Levies $119K Against 9 Passengers for Alleged Unruly Behavior

 

Today’s cases propose civil penalties against nine passengers ranging from $7,500 to $21,500 for allegedly interfering with flight attendants who instructed passengers to obey cabin crew instructions and various federal regulations. The cases involve assaulting the flight crew and other passengers, drinking alcohol brought aboard the plane and refusing to wear facemasks.

Since Jan. 1, 2021, the FAA has received approximately 3,271 reports of unruly behavior by passengers, including about 2,475 reports of passengers refusing to comply with the federal facemask mandate. We have identified potential violations in 540 cases and have initiated enforcement action in 83 cases. During the same timeframe, the FAA has proposed more than $682,000 in fines against unruly passengers, including today’s cases.

The cases are as follows:

Press Release – FAA Releases New PSA, Levies $119K Against 9 Passengers for Alleged Unruly Behavior

[Guest1]

American Airlines First Class Passenger Taped To Seat After Inflight Incident

• byAndrew Curran
• July 12, 2021
• 3 minute read

In the latest of a series of high-profile disruptive passenger incidents on American Airlines this week, flight attendants duct-taped a first class passenger to her seat after she physically attacked them and tried to open the plane’s door.

  Flight attendants duct-taped a passenger to her seat on an American Airlines flight last week. Photo: Vincenzo Pace/Simple Flying

A series of high-profile disruptive passenger incidents onboard American Airlines

Multiple media reports are circulating concerning American Airlines Flight AA1774 from Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) to Charlotte (CLT) on Tuesday, July 6. The female passenger reportedly had an inflight mental breakdown. She assaulted and bit a flight attendant and attempted to open the forward boarding door.

On a different flight on Tuesday, AA2289, operating between Los Angeles (LAX) and Miami (MIA), the flight crew ordered passengers to put their hands on their heads for nearly an hour before the plane landed. Upon landing, police armed with machine guns boarded the aircraft to arrest a passenger.

On Monday, July 5, a group of teenage high school students traveling on American Airlines Flight 893 from Charlotte to Nassau (NAS) were non-compliant with federal mask requirements. American Airlines says they became disruptive to other customers and refused to follow crew member’s instructions while onboard. As a result, American Airlines removed the students from the plane. However, the flight was delayed overnight in Charlotte as a result.

 

Female first class passenger has an inflight mental breakdown

Airlines and the FAA are cracking down on disruptive passenger incidents. Reports of bad behavior are at record highs. The FAA is regularly recommending substantial financial penalties. Airlines are pushing for criminal penalties.

In Tuesday’s AA1774 incident, detailed by a passenger on TikTok, the female first class passenger began behaving badly one hour into the two-hour flight to Charlotte.

The TikTok clip, posted by @lol.ariee, is now taken down. But Business Insider reports @lol.ariee saying.

“She was saying, ‘I need to get off this plane,’ and she went up to the exits and started banging on the doors, saying, ‘You need to let me off this plane!’”

In a statement, American Airlines refers to the incident as a “potential security concern.

“The crew onboard American Airlines flight 1774 reported a potential security concern after a customer attempted to open the forward boarding door and physically assaulted, bit, and caused injury to a flight attendant.

“For the safety and security of other customers and our crew, the individual was restrained until the flight landed at CLT and could be met by law enforcement and emergency personnel.”

 

 

American Airlines flight crew gets high praise for their professional handling of incident

According to @lol.ariee, flight attendants duct-taped the passenger to her seat after biting, spitting, and attacking flight attendants. Photos taken by passengers leaving the plane in Charlotte show a disheveled blonde woman secured to the seat. Flight attendants bound the passenger’s behind her back and taped her mouth. The passenger reportedly remained highly agitated while the remainder of the passengers left the plane. Police and medical personnel later removed her.

Another passenger on the flight, Kelly Manion from Charlotte, praised the professionalism of the flight attendants on AA1774. Ms Manion posted on Twitter;

“A deranged passenger screamed for over an hour, was physically out of control, had to be restrained/duct-taped to her seat. She was a nightmare.”

Meanwhile, American Airlines is on the front foot supporting its flight crew. The airline is adopting a zero-tolerance approach to disruptive passengers. American Airlines and other United States-based carriers have reported more than 2,500 passengers to the FAA in 2021 for disruptive behavior. Following Tuesday’s incident, the American Airlines spokesperson said;