Thank you, Connetts, I shall read the link in the early hours.
I did not know and could not have known all the facts;
A driver is expected to know the Road Traffic Acts, or at least a good working knowledge of them. It's part of his driving skills test and becomes a significant part of most people's daily life. But the hypothetical harassed mum?
Heathrow Harry said:
They are told not to do it - they do it - they should suffer the consequences
Obviously Harry is not able to put himself in the mind of a young, flight-stressed and chronically harassed mum. If she did the unthinkable and set light to a bin full of paper, should she miss a large part of her children's growing years? That would be barbaric. Thank goodness she remains hypothetical - for now.
Only when I see a sign in neon flashing
IT IS A DANGEROUS CRIME TO SMOKE ANYWHERE ON THIS AIRCRAFT. YOU WILL BE DETECTED. THE PUNISHMENT IS SEVERE.
will I be quite sure simple ordinary folk really do understand that to break that particular rule is a little more serious than smoking in the school toilet.
Could anyone be that stupid? Erm, I'm afraid over the years I saw a lot of bewilderingly silly acts, often by seasoned passengers. So the answer has to be yes.
Perhaps a flight attendant that has the chutzpah to stare in a way that brings 300 pairs of eye onto the passenger that's talking through her briefing and say something like, Can I have your undivided attention??!! will we know that the issues of fire, and not grabbing your stuff after a forced landing are serious issues. The latter seems to happen during every evacuation and it's a life-threatening act.
But back to the OP's subject. Have the full facts been released? Two poster's knowledge was made to sound like secret and privileged information earlier in the thread.
*
I don't know quite who's advocate I'm being. I haven't lost the other viewpoint; I still have a very clear image in my mind's eye of the suddenly circular track over the Med. The pattern and silence spelled out what they were going through. It's just that when the law is applied harshly, it is very reassuring to know it's truly deserved.