ExSimGuy, you have missed the point. None of my comment here is related to the fact that I know flaps personally, and that I would trust her judgement every time.
That aside, the point is that we are trying to avoid trouble occurring, to be proactive on safety. You may well be able to hold your drink without getting violent. Personally, when I get drunk, mostly I just fall asleep. However, there is a significant minority out there who do get violent.
So, how do we separate the differing types? Answer is - we can't. And we don't want to wait until someone does load themselves up to find out. Because then you get hosties having vodka bottles broken over their heads and being repeatedly stabbed with the broken end. So the simple answer is, the drunks don't fly.
The UK ANO states that it is an offence to be on an aircraft whilst drunk. End of story.
There are numerous problems with this. The first is with Duty-Free booze (or tax-free booze) being on sale at airport of departure. This system should be changed so it is picked up before clearing customs at the destination. Less chance of pax getting slammed in-flight, less weight to carry, less chance of a bin filled with flammable liquid showering the pax in an accident, less glass around.
Next is the airlines' habit of selling duty-free on board. This is, quite simply, a total abrogation of their responsibilities to flight safety. Yes, they make money out of it, yes, that reduces the ticket price. So what? Why should they be permitted to put profit ahead of safety?
Another is that airport authorities don't like having drunks wandering around their terminals creating trouble. Easiest is to get them out. So instead of sending them out landside in the company of the local constabulary, they send them where they want to go - out onto the aircraft. Security staff at airports are either airport employees, so they do what they're told by the airport, or work for a company contracted to the airport. Not a good state of affairs. Airports try to palm off their drunks on the airlines.
We will not find the solution to drunken air rage cases until everybody, including the police, airport authorities and airlines alike face up to their reponsibilities to their staff and passengers, stop following what appears expedient at the time or makes them most money, and adopt a zero-tolerance attitude.
[Edited for fat-fingered typing]
[This message has been edited by HugMonster (edited 23 April 2001).]