Unruly behavior on flights is on the rise according to a recent press release from the Federal Aviation Administration. For those who work in the industry, it’s definitely a cause for concern.
Just a few days ago, a flight attendant got two of her teeth knocked out by a violent passenger.
While many recent incidents on flights in the US have involved confrontations over new mask rules and testing requirements, this incident was over a run-of-the-mill seatbelt request.
The plane had just landed and was still moving while taxiing to the terminal.
As per regulations, the fasten seatbelt sign remained on.
One woman chose to take off her seatbelt early, but when the flight attendant asked her to put it back on, an all-out assault took place.
The passenger immediately escalated the situation for no reason whatsoever. The woman began punching the flight attendant over and over, repeatedly hammering her in her face.
The brutal assault was dealt out to the flight attendant simply for asking the woman to put on a seatbelt.
The video shows just how crazy her overreaction to the situation was.
Unfortunately, incidents like this one are becoming increasingly more common too.
In a typical year, the Federal Aviation Administration normally responds to about 150 unruly passenger incidents. However, from January 1st up until May 24 of 2021, there have already been over 2500 incidents.
Some of these incidents only involve loud shouting by passengers refusing to comply with flight attendant requests, but a sizable number also become physical. As this shocking incident shows, a flight attendant can never be too careful.
The attack resulted in the flight attendant losing her two front teeth and the photos clearly show blood streaming down her face.
It’s so sad to see, especially when you consider the fact that the poor employee was just trying to do her job.
She definitely didn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of such a brutal attack.
However, the FAA’s recent order initiating “a stricter legal enforcement policy against unruly airline passengers in the wake of recent, troubling incidents”, will hopefully help to put a stop to some of what is taking place.
Passengers note that refusing to comply with a flight attendant or misbehaving on a flight can result in hefty civil fines of over $10,000, as several recent cases show.
In January, a passenger on a Jet Blue flight was fined $15,000 for repeatedly consuming his personal alcohol bottle he brought with him on the flight, even after the flight attendant told him it was prohibited to do so. In addition to the fines, any major infraction almost always results in the passenger being banned for life from any future flights with that airline as well.
The recent press release from the FAA is very clear about the potential penalties:
“Passengers who interfere with, physically assault, or threaten to physically assault aircraft crew or anyone else on an aircraft face stiff penalties, including fines of up to $35,000 and imprisonment,” says the FAA.
The airline staff is there to enforce regulations that keep us all safe. The FAA wants everyone to know that they are more than willing to pursue enforcement actions against unruly passengers who don’t comply. We are now starting to see how the response is playing out.
Watch the full video of the flight attendant getting her teeth knocked out by the passenger below.
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