PDA

View Full Version : Jurisdiction of passenger naughtiness


davidjohnson6
21st Jul 2023, 22:02
I recently flew from Mallorca to Amsterdam non-stop on a US-based commercial airline with an N-reg A320 with a USA flag on it. The ticket was sold by TUI Netherlands and had a TUI NL IATA flight code with the US carrier being a summer wet lease. The seatback safety cards and cabin crew safety announcements made frequent reference to "Federal law requires ..."
Suppose a passenger was naughty on this flight - suppose they ignored cabin crew instructions but did not bug any other passengers. Could the Spanish, French, Belgian or Dutch courts do anything about this or have jurisdiction ? Or would said passenger need to be extradited to the USA for anything to happen ? Would such an extradition even be allowed ?
I know that some countries never extradite their own citizens - please ignore these cases in any answer.

25F
21st Jul 2023, 23:28
Quick google produces:
https://simpleflying.com/which-countrys-laws-are-enforced-during-international-flights/

- Whist in flight in international airspace, the laws of the country of registration of the aircraft apply.
- If the incident is related to air safety, the laws of the destination country will take effect.
- And in addition, If the aircraft is within a country’s airspace, then that country can impose its laws in certain situations.

Interesting comment about drinking age there. Aged 18 I was returning from the USA. Asked for a beer. Got refused. A nearby passenger offered to get it for me. He got refused, as it was for me. So when I was met by my family at LHR (six month absence), they asked what I wanted to do, I said "I want a beer!". So IIRC that's what I got. 8 a.m. pints are not *just* for outgoing flights.

Asturias56
22nd Jul 2023, 06:47
Interesting point 25F

few years back Senora A had to mediate a discussion in Emirates Business Class between the CC and a french family who wanted some wine for their 14/15 year old with dinner which was a no-no in the UAE

For some weird reason the flight out of CDG didn't seem to have any French speaking CC