I had heard that One major US carrier had a stack of Tarmac delays filed against them and that the doors being opened (but seat belt sign on) meant pax could not legally leave the aircraft (without risking the $10,000 fine)?
“It is a violation of 14 C.F.R. 121.317(f) not to have your seat belt fastened when the seat belt sign is on. Civil penalties up to $10,000 could be assessed. “
Can anyone provide legal documents showing a case where this legal action and fine were imposed ( on either an airline or individual passenger) by the FAA under the circumstances described ? I Googled around a bit and found a case where some guy on a SWA flight got in legal trouble but the airplane was
in flight and he was a bad boy in other ways in addition to the seat belt thing.
The quoted statement about the $10K fine isn't specific enough to answer the situation about being at the gate.