BA pax stabbed with broken bottle during flight to LGW

[Auxtank]

British Airways passenger 'stabbed with broken bottle during flight from Gatwick To St Lucia.'A man allegedly broke a wine bottle purchased from duty free and used the shards as a weapon
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2023/07/06/TELEMMGLPICT000341712332_16886256346630_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bq2K QW6uizPnCKKesyyHqyC0Wy_sGK6oioMu5BzggyGUY.jpeg?imwidth=680 An airline passenger has been stabbed with a broken glass bottle on a British Airways flight. (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/worst-airline-revealed-british-airways-popularity-plummets/)

Video footage shared on social media showed how a fight broke out between several passengers over an hour into flight BA2159 from Gatwick to St Lucia.

The pilots continued the flight to Hewanorra International Airport in Vieux Fort despite the fighting in the cabin.

According to the St Lucia Times, the fight began when one passenger, who had been arguing with another throughout the flight, went into the kitchen and smashed a bottle in the galley before using one of the shards to stab the other person.

Passengers and staff then rushed to separate the two, but the victim received a considerable wound, while another passenger who had intervened was cut badly and treated by a nurse during the flight.‘Horrifying’ incidentOne passenger told the Daily Mail: “I was on board this flight and these guys were drinking and giving jokes with each other before this occurred.

“One man got stabbed in the torso and the other guy in the back of the head before another gentleman and myself were able to calm down this guy who purchased a duty free wine bottle which he used to commit the act.


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“Thankfully, the escalated situation was dealt with swiftly and normalcy was maintained.”

Another witness told the Sun: “It was horrifying when the passenger broke the bottle then used the shards as a weapon. Suddenly there was blood in the cabin. No one knew how gruesome it was going to get. It could have been so much worse.”

A spokesperson for British Airways (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/11/27/british-airways-double-operations-gatwick-airport/) said: “We’re shocked that anyone would act in this way and are grateful to our highly trained cabin crew and the customers who supported them in handling this difficult incident.

“We want to assure customers that this behaviour will never be tolerated and we will always take the appropriate action.”

They added that it was a matter for the police.

A spokesman for St Lucia police said the matter was under investigation.

“We are looking into this with immediate effect. This is a very serious matter which occurred on a plane. This is very serious indeed.”

[wiggy]

Auxtank:

All very grim but there seems to be some confusion in that report about departure and destination, also:

"Video footage shared on social media showed how a fight broke out between several passengers over an hour into flight BA2159 from Gatwick to St Lucia.

The pilots continued the flight to Hewanorra International Airport in Vieux Fort despite the fighting in the cabin."

TBH that sounds odd to say the least and FWIW another UK tabloid media source has different timing, stating:

"Shocking footage shows the moment flight BA2159 from Gatwick to St Lucia descended into chaos as a brawl broke out between several passengers around an hour and 20 minutes from touchdown."

(my emphasis)

[DaveReidUK]

The Daily Mail report (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12266761/British-Airways-passenger-STABBED-thug-wielding-broken-bottle-aboard-flight-Caribbean.html), FWIW, (sorry!) also mentions harassment and intimidation of female passengers by the individuals involved and a reluctance of the F/As to intervene. (No judgement implied)

[Auxtank]

Auxtank:
All very grim but there seems to be some confusion in that report about departure and destination, also:

Thanks Wiggy - have edited title now facts are known.

[Jet Jockey A4]

The world is now officially crazy. I hope the trouble maker/stabber gets major jail time and is banned from all airlines.

[MechEngr]

Thankfully they were all screened for weapons before boarding.

“We want to assure customers that this behaviour will never be tolerated and we will always take the appropriate action.”

Thank them for that. Certainly this statement will distinguish them from other airlines. I know they feel the need to say it, it's just awkward. It would be interesting to see all other airlines making similar statements, but that would draw attention to the fact that this behavior did happen, suggesting it could happen again. Makes me glad the local liquor stores all use plastic for the discardable one-shot bottles for littering the streets rather than the shattering glass version. Maybe plastic wine bottles in airports? Or box wine. And soft sippy cups. Or - maybe like those foil coated plastic juice bags with the tough little straws.

A commercial pilot friend of mine remarked on something similar, that a person wearing only a towel could have done 9/11 by breaking some glass and using the towel to protect their hands. Now it won't work because (I hope against hope) that the cockpit door will remain locked when such things happen. He claimed to have told his FO that she would get sent out the door with a fire-ax. She asked why and he said "You are short, I'm the Captain. Swing for the kneecaps." He was a good guy and would actually have kept the door locked.

[tdracer]

The world is now officially crazy. I hope the trouble maker/stabber gets major jail time and is banned from all airlines.
It is part of general breakdown in the social fabric of acceptable behavior.
The US mass shootings are the classic example - while people blame guns, the simple fact is that in the US guns have been readily available pretty much forever, yet mass shootings were rare until fairly recently. What's changed is that too many people - especially younger people - no longer think it is unacceptable to act out on their grudges/fantasies. Combined with a reduced value placed on human life and simple decency, this is the result.

[Commander Taco]

It is part of general breakdown in the social fabric of acceptable behavior.
The US mass shootings are the classic example - while people blame guns, the simple fact is that in the US guns have been readily available pretty much forever, yet mass shootings were rare until fairly recently. What's changed is that too many people - especially younger people - no longer think it is unacceptable to act out on their grudges/fantasies. Combined with a reduced value placed on human life and simple decency, this is the result.

Agreed. We are seeing things in Toronto that used to be perhaps a once in five year event now happen once a month. In the spring, 8 girls ranging in age from 13 to 16 swarmed and stabbed to death a homeless man. Stabbings on the public transit system in Toronto are now fairly routine as opposed to extremely rare as little as 5 years ago. Every 6 months or so, some unlucky soul gets pushed onto the tracks of an inbound subway train. I can’t fathom that kind of unprovoked brutality. Grist for the sociologists I suppose.