Intoxicated or TOXIC passenger?
On August 11th, at 13:03 UTC, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner SP-LSG took off from Warsaw Chopin Airport (WAW) and set a course at Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ). What happened next raises the question of the tolerance limits (if any?) for intoxicated passengers on board of commercial flights. It will also show how far-reaching negative operational consequences can be caused by the behavior of even one passenger.
I am curious about your opinions on this subject and the answers to the questions asked at the end of the article. I invite you to the discussion.
It was supposed to be a normal flight...
The flight went smoothly and without any signs of trouble, until Greenland's ice-covered shores appeared on the horizon. Out of a sudden, one of the passengers, apparently angered by the cabin crew's refusal to serve alcohol due to visible signs of intoxication, fell into a rage. There were screams, insults and even spitting (!) involved. The passenger did not react to the interventions of the staff. Crew members and some passengers were physically threatened. The captain was informed by the purser about the situation and around 17:30 UTC decided to turn back and land at the nearest suitable airport, i.e. in Keflavik, Iceland.
The troublemaker, incapacitated and pinned to the ground by other passengers, was forcibly removed from the plane by the police and arrested.
Unfortunately, due to a serious delay, in accordance with the aviation regulations, the duty time of the crew did not allow the continuation of the flight to Canada. The only solution was to return to Warsaw.
Trapped passengers
The plane finally landed in Warsaw at 02:10 UTC. It was already past midnight, outside of normal airport operation hours. We did our absolute best to provide all passengers with the necessary care under these difficult conditions. Regretfully, deboarding, passport control and finding hotels took a long time. Worst of all, several dozen passengers who only transferred in Warsaw for a flight to Toronto did not have Schengen visas.
Due to the above, they were not allowed to cross the border and had to stay in the Non-Schengen area of the airport.
Search for a solution
Even before the plane landed in Warsaw, regardless of late night hours, the crisis response team at LOT analyzed the situation in order to find an optimal solution. We have to deal with the following limitations:
领英推荐
Ultimately, we developed a solution consisting of two components:
We did not hesitate for a moment that this was the optimal solution in this extremely difficult situation. As a result, all passengers made it safely to Toronto on August 13.
There is always a trade-off... Consequences for further operations
Due to the diversion of the aircraft, the return flight YYZ-WAW had to be canceled. Due to the extension of the WAW-PUJ-WAW rotation, the planned aircraft rotation was seriously disrupted, with the consequences of which we struggled for a few more days. Worst of all, hundreds of our passengers were exposed to a great deal of stress and negative emotions related to disrupting their journey. Dozens of our passengers had to spend the night at the airport terminal...
All because of one person
All the above-mentioned disruptions and the suffering of so many people were caused by the extreme irresponsibility of a single person who must have taken strong intoxicants before or during the flight to Toronto. The arrest of the troublemaker does not constitute compensation or even consolation for anyone. As an airline, we will certainly take the most far-reaching legal measures to ensure that the unruly passenger will be held liable for the damage caused. As of today, however, the prospect of seeking damages remains distant and uncertain.
Open questions
The whole situation prompts me to ask you about your opinion about certain aviation regulations and procedures:
QUESTION 1: Are you for a strict refusal to carry passengers who show signs of alcohol intoxication or drug intoxication before departure of the flight?
QUESTION 2: Are you in favor of compulsory random testing of airline passengers for the presence of alcohol or other drugs in their bodies; and for the refusal of carriage in the event of detecting too high (or any?) concentration of them?
QUESTION 3: Are you in favor of tightening the penalties for causing this type of threats in air transport, including the penalty of many years of imprisonment?
I must admit that in each of the above questions, I would rather answer in the affirmative. These types of incidents not only disrupt the airline operations and the plans of innocent fellow passengers, but most of all they pose significant and material threat to the safety of the flights - and there should never be consent to this.
Captain at IndiGo (InterGlobe Aviation Ltd)
2 年Prevention is certainly better than cure, and deplaning an intoxicated passenger would be much simpler and cost-effective than a mid-air diversion. Sometimes the mere threat of a deplaning is enough to sober up passengers quickly - I’ve seen this first hand. BA tests for passengers? Not so much. Leave it to the security staff and cabin crew to make a judgement call. Banning alcohol on flights may eliminate the problem, but will cause much heartburn. Instead, let airports and airlines sell alcohol at, shall we say, ‘premium’ prices, which will discourage passengers from drinking too much and further reduce what is already a minuscule problem. And for those travellers who still get intoxicated and create a serious situation in flight, placing them on a no-fly list for some time - with the approval of the civil aviation authority of course - would have a sobering effect for their next flights.
Area Director Eastern & Central Europe, Germany at Thales Aviation Global Services
2 年See you soon Macjek!?
Area Director Eastern & Central Europe, Germany at Thales Aviation Global Services
2 年Hello Macjek, Many thanks for this great post that definitely gives food for thoughts! This actually was the subject of many discussions I had with my french colleagues over the last days. As part of the outcomes it was hard for all of us to figure out that the behavior of one single passenger could cause so many troubles and lead to such heavy prejudices for both the airline and the other passengers. Congrats to LOT and LOT staff for the way how you handled the situation! Having collected opinions from my colleagues with regard to measures that should be taken, in their mind, in order to prevent similar situations, it seems there are as many opinions as people consulted... To keep the balance between flight safety and passenger's rights is definitely not easy. One thing on which you will probably agree, is that a nice Polish Zubrovka would not have lead to such negative effects... ?? Take care!
Shaping the Future of Food at The Kraft Heinz Company
2 年For Q1 -of course yes but I believe you cannot put aside the alcohol consumption in planes in that discussion : are the ones offered, purchased in planes or in duty free. I know it is not allowed to consume own alcohol in planes but you can see sometimes how some passangers are making it. But at end if you consume your or the one from the plane service or airplane duty free and you get so drunk to disturb flights this is disruption. So maybe and would be big ??innovation” in Airlines : alcohol should be banned of consumption during the flight. What you Purchase in Duty free in airport or on-board duty-free should be given to passenger at the end of the journey. Can be complicated to put in place but not impossible. Cigarettes smoking have been banned once from planes for example. For Q2 and Q3 also Yes but here legal people should be better advisors.