" In September 2022 , an unruly passenger forced the pilots of a Delta Air Lines flight from Portland to Atlanta to make an emergency diversion to Salt Lake City after he started to act erratically and had to be restrained in flexicuffs by other passengers aboard the flight."
These kind of stories are more common now a days , and airlines are stuggling to handle the situation mid-flight mostly , in addition to the inconvenience caused to the rest of the passengers. FAA .
Source : FAA
In April 2022, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had proposed the largest-ever fines ever against two passengers for alleged unruly behavior. The fines of $81,950 and $77,272, respectively, were part of the approximately $2 million the agency has proposed since Jan. 1, 2022.
Now, on August 08 2023 , The Federal Aviation Administration revealed that it has referred 22 more unruly passenger cases to the Federal Bureau of Investigation from December 2021 to April 2023.
Recently, a Drunk man stabbed a fellow passenger mid-air on British Airways flight.
This step brings the total number of referred cases, some of which include allegations of physical or sexual assault on flyers and flight crew, to 39 this year. Since 2021, over 270 total cases have been handed over.
"Unruly behavior poses serious safety concerns for passengers and crew alike, which is why we are addressing this issue aggressively," said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "If you act out on an airplane, you can face criminal prosecution and fines up to $37,000 per violation."
Passengers taking narcotics inflight has been on the rise for years, and it has become such a worrying trend that several major U.S. airlines now carry Narcan (naloxone), a powerful medical that quickly reverses the effects of an Opioid overdose, in their emergency medical kits.
Among the incidents to be reviewed are the sexual assault of a minor, terroristic threats, physical altercations, smoking in the lavatory, projectiles, and an individual that appeared to try to make his way to the cockpit.
According to the agency, unruly passenger incidents have dropped by over 80% since record highs in early 2021.
The rate of unruly passenger incidents has dropped by over 80 percent since record-highs in early 2021 but unacceptable behavior continues to occur.
The FAA can seek fines of up to $37,000 per violation against unruly passengers with bad behavior, but it lacks authority to file criminal charges; that is why the agency refers some cases to the FBI.
Federal Aviation Regulations 91.11, 121.580 and 135.120 state that "no person may assault, threaten, intimidate, or interfere with a crewmember in the performance of the crewmember's duties aboard an aircraft being operated."
Additionally , FAA reserves the right to share information of passengers facing fines for unruly behavior with TSA who may remove the passenger from TSA PreCheck screening eligibility, which is a privilege reserved for low-risk travelers.
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