Another Air Rage Idiot...

[Wibble Hatstand]

From BBC News Website...

'A Briton could face up to 20 years in jail after allegedly attacking an air crew on a flight to Florida.
Victor Mardell, 57, from London, is being held at Seminole County Jail in Orlando, Florida after being arrested as he disembarked from an Air 2000 flight.

FBI agent Nickolas Savage said Mr Mardell was "extremely drunk" and attacked two air stewardesses as the flight from Manchester descended towards Orlando-Sanford International Airport.

Mr Mardell has been charged with interfering with a flight crew, which carries a maximum 20-year sentence.

He will appear before a federal court in Orlando on Monday.

Mr Savage said Mr Mardell brought two bottles of whiskey on board the eight-and-a-half hour flight, which stopped in Ireland en route to Florida.

Broke free

The FBI agent said he began to swear and make threats in the last 20 minutes of the flight and was restrained in his seat by fellow passengers.

But Mr Savage said Mr Mardell broke free as the plane came in to land and attempted to hit and choke one of the flight attendants.

When another stewardess went to help, Mr Mardell grabbed her wrist and threw her against a toilet door, Mr Savage said.

He said: "As many as seven passengers had to restrain him until authorities could board the plane."

Air 2000 was unavailable for comment. '


Lets hope he enjoys his 20 years in a US jail - maybe even sharing his cell with a bull queen. Might make others think before they pick on defenceless crew.

Scum

:mad:

[macky42]

Do crews and passengers really have to endure this any longer?
Perhaps it is time to stop selling alcohol on aircraft. Would these incidents still occur if it were banned? Surely most passengers can manage even a long flight without a drink.
We may have to put up with drunken loutishness elsewhere, but onboard an aircraft is one place it should be stopped.

[BEagle]

Hang on a minute. 'He bought 2 bottles of whisky'? Presumably that's 2 litres or so - not just a couple of little miniatures?

Did the airline really let him drink his way through '2 bottles of whisky' on their flight?

Of course there is no place for drunken hooligans on any aeroplane though. But I'm not convinced that alcohol prohibition would be acceptable to the vast majority of normal travellers.

[Pat Pong]

Absolutely correct BEagle. Right or wrong, the cabin staff are obliged to ensure that pax. are not sold in excess of their tax free allowance, let alone consume it whilst airbourne.

Despite that, to follow macky42's suggestion is typically "Blairish." Sure, let's punish the VAST majority of decent law abiding pax. because of the TINY minority of miscreants.

In reallity these kind of incidents are few and far between, particularly when you consider that the likes of just Airtours (sorry - Mytravel) and Britannia alone shift tens of millions of punters per annum, let alone adding the other carriers such as Air 2000, JMC et al to the equation - and that's just the U.K. charter market.

Regrettably these stories are given front page coverage by sensationalist tabloid media hacks. For Christ's sake, the BBC have just reported it ahead of the the Pope's latest escapades.

[Gin Slinger]

I agree some of Mr Pong's comments were uncalled for, however, banning alcohol on aircraft because excesses of the few does smack of the politically correct madness of the Rev. Blair.

These days people aren't blamed for their own actions enough. The knee-jerk reaction is to blame either society in general, or particular organisations or products - such as airlines or alcoholic drinks.

Let's persecute the people how perpetrate criminal acts, not everyone else.

[Agaricus bisporus]

Wibble, great story, great imagery, but what the heck is a "bull queen"???????

Sorry, but like 98% of Pruners I'm just not current on US jail slang, if that is what it is...:confused:

[Wibble Hatstand]

Agaricus bisporus (is that a plant?!)

A 'bull queen' is a lovely type of man who *forcefully* prays on other men - usually in the showers whilst recovering a dropped bar of soap or some such. Have you seen 'The Shawshank Redemption'? If you have, then you'll know what I mean ;)


Suffice to say you would not want to be locked in the same cell as them for a minute, let alone 20 years!


And, before the comments start, I'm not speaking from personal experience :D However, 'Victor Mardell, 57, from London' might be able to fill in some of the details shortly.

[Spiraldiver]

The original article said he "bRought" -not he "bought" - two bottles of booze onboard.

So the issue is whether or not you should be allowed to carry-on a trunk full of intoxicants. Dutyfree in the terminal is designed to provide a cheap and efficent way of doing exactly that. Perhaps duty free booze should be kept in the hold until the end of the flight, when it can be claimed on arrival.

Just like that idiot will be "claimed" on arrival in a Florida jail.

[max_cont]

Wibble Hatstand Agaricus bisporus is a fungus… well to be accurate it’s a small button mushroom.

[Plastique]

Methinks it's a function of the SLF involved...
The charter market is a different kettle of fish to scheduled.

You should see the condition of the cabin on arrival on some charter airlines...

I'm not being snobby.
Ok maybe I am, but it is not the first time that Air two bob have had these type of problems on the florida routes, remember the "travelling people" that ran amok a couple of years ago..

[katiecorrigan]

Yeah sure, and it's not confined to Air Two Bob. I'm sure if we could be bothered to look hard enough we could find plenty of other examples of such occurrences with other airlines, it's just not every story gets reported in the media (and Ananova's reporting of stated that the guy attacked two US FAs - no mention of Air Two Bob).

Let's carry on bashing the cheap and charter airlines, shall we? :rolleyes:

KatieC.

[Devils Advocate]

Plastique w.r.t. You should see the condition of the cabin on arrival on some charter airlines..... by that one assumes that you mean that it's often a lot cleaner and tidy than the same cabin as left behind by those who fly 'scheduled' - and please note that I personally have flown-in and operated-upon both - and (imho) it's more likely to be the folks in 'Business & 1st' that think ( through the purchase of their ticket ) that they somehow then 'own' a good portion of the aircraft ( and can therefore do as they like ).

Accordingly, next time you disembark, I'd suggest that you take a good look through those cabin sections to see just what state your beloved 'snobby' pax can leave the cabin !

Uhm, now just how many w's are there in anker ?

[hobie]

a few dozen 20 year jail terms with lots of publicity would go a long way to getting the message across ......

"you mess with my plane - you go to Jail"

[BEagle]

I used to fly LH to FRA from LHR reasonably often - but in 'paid for my own ticket' class, not Business. We all had to board and leave the ac by the front passenger door jetway access; when leaving the ac, it was Business first, we the Untermensch last. The state of the business cabin was utter squalor; newspapers everywhere along with food and drink debris. What a bunch of pigs - and squeezing past their beloved wheelie-bin suitcases which were their so-called 'hand baggage' was also an utter pain when boarding.

Yet another reason to go to a low-cost alternative!! So I have; buzz is always clean, STN beats the pants off LHR T2 - and there are no overweight sweaty business oafs to have to put up with!

[andrewc]

Some green eye of the little yellow god on show there
BEagle methinks'...

Buzz is always clean because they don't actually have any
significant in-flight service that I've noticed.

Chasing the topic, proportionate response and punishment
to fit the crime would be nice to see.

-- Andrew

[BOING]

Anybody ever travel Saudia LHR to Riyadh? Had to be careful you did not break a leg tripping over bottles rolling in the aisle when you deplaned. I learned most of the Glasswegian I know on those flights.

It is not just the charters that have the problem and it is not a new problem. We are just more aware of it now.

[Fokker-Jock]

Let them have their drinks (and mine), let them go berserk and lock them up.

As pilots we just lock the cardboard door in front and feel safe with the fireaxe next to us :D

[Seriph]

Looks like a megga envy / chip on the shoulder problem Beagle. My experience suggests that business / first class is the only way to travel. We have to clean the cabin on charter flights with a shovel.

[MarkD]

I don't think judges in Ireland have got the message yet on air rage deterrence, some Yank got a wrist slap after an SNN div, case came up a couple of weeks ago.

[UFGBOY]

Ref PATPONG comment; cabin crew not under obligation to police amount of goods purchased; they can give advice but the onus is on paxx to declare goods in excess of that permited by customs rules - cabin crew are not to know at the end of the day whetehr pax will declare (or not) excess

Exception until abolition of d-f in EU was that you could only sell legal limit to pax on each sector - this was Vendor Control

[pom]

Plastique,

... it is not the first time that Air two bob have had these type of problems on the florida routes, remember the "travelling people" that ran amok a couple of years ago..


Not Air 2000, Airtours ... now MyTravel.

[Lou Scannon]

back to the subject:
The gentleman concerned is quoted today as saying that the complaint is ridiculous.

Lets hope someone had a video recorder running to support the dozens of witnesses who saw what really happened.

A check by the UK police of his past behaviour pattern may be illuminating as well.

[simon brown]

Gents,

Perhaps in your professional capacity you could enlighted a PPL as to the erm niceties of the Air navigation Order.

Am I correct in stating that theh ANO states that it is illegal to allow passengers entry to an aircraft if intoxicated by drink or drugs?

As I PPL that would extend to me declining any mates whom may have had one too many on safety grounds.

Does this relate to Airlines as well , as the bars are always open, the duty frees are always open and drink is always served.

To me it appears that the airlines continually bleat about these passengers, but along with airport authorities allow the idiots to consume as much as they like day and night.

You dont have to reek like a wino and not be incharge of your faculties to board an aircraft, then create merry hell having consumed those duty frees you purchased, or but a drink from the drinks trolley.

I wonder how many of you professionals feel about ferrying the shell suit wearing simi literate W*****s whom seem to fill our airports these days, on the grounds of safety. What if a drunk is next to the overwing exit?

I get the impression the Airport Authorities and Airlines are only paying lip service to their concerns in their insaciable hunger for profits.

SB

[Greenfinch]

Hobie,

I couldn't agree more ! Sadly in air-rage cases, the farcical U.K. judicial system seems reluctant to hand out maximum sentences. Half the time they seem to get off the hook on technicalities or due to 'lame' mitigating circumstances (that w**ker from the band REM is a classic example).

Greenfinch

[Rollingthunder]

Mr Mardell's lawyer Fritz Sheller said his client
denied the charges. He added that the
incident was of a type with which cabin crew
dealt every day.

The prosecution now has 30 days to outline its case.

'Absolutely silly'

Mr Mardell, who said he was on his way to his
son's wedding, earlier told reporters that claims
he was drunk, aggressive or violent were
"absolutely stupid".

He said by phone from prison that he had been
pushed to the ground by two people after the
plane had landed and as he was getting off.

"I'm not a violent person at all, never have
been," he said.

"I was not being disorderly at all, not at all.
That's stupid, that is, absolutely silly."

The Beeb.

Well innocent until proven guilty but I've never heard such separation from reality in my life. Three of the folks who had to restrain him were off-duty police officers. Total Prat. I'm surprised he knows where he is at the moment - a secure lock-up in Florida.

[Airbubba]

Here's another update:


U.S. trial for UK air rage suspect

August 22, 2002 Posted: 4:52 AM EDT (0852 GMT)

Mardell has denied the claims made against him

ORLANDO, United States -- A Briton accused of threatening to kill a passenger on a transatlantic flight and trying to open the plane's doors in midair has been indicted to face trial in the United States.

Victor Mardell, 57, from London, faces a possible 20-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $250,000 if found guilty.

The charges relate to an Air 2000 flight from Manchester, England, to Orlando, Florida, last Friday.

The criminal complaint, filed Saturday, says Mardell brought his own whiskey and consumed it during the flight.

When the plane was preparing to land, the complaint said: "Mardell became belligerent, threatened to kill a passenger, and attempted to open one of the doors of the aircraft."

After the plane landed, it said, he assaulted two flight attendants.

Mardell -- who was travelling to the U.S. for his son's wedding -- denied being drunk, aggressive or violent and described the claims as "absolutely stupid."