Another drunken passenger...
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And here is the report
"19/02/2005 - 12:18:33 PM
Drunken diplomat arrested after flight disturbance
A drunken British diplomat was arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport following a disturbance on board a flight, it was confirmed today.
Defence attaché Colonel Peter Roberts spent Thursday night in the cells after police arrested him on board a plane from Bangkok, shortly after it touched down at Heathrow.
The 50-year-old colonel, who is based in the Thai capital, has been bailed until March 3.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “At approximately 17.30 on Thursday February 17 Heathrow police officers boarded an inbound flight following reports of a disturbance on board.
“A 50-year-old male passenger was arrested for being drunk on an aircraft and taken to a west London police station. He was bailed on February 18 to return to a west London police station on March 3.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesman confirmed Colonel Peter Roberts was arrested and that the flight was from Bangkok.
“We cannot comment further as an investigation is underway,” he said.
It has been reported the colonel had been involved in the relief effort following the December 26 tsunami disaster which devastated parts of western Thailand. "
"19/02/2005 - 12:18:33 PM
Drunken diplomat arrested after flight disturbance
A drunken British diplomat was arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport following a disturbance on board a flight, it was confirmed today.
Defence attaché Colonel Peter Roberts spent Thursday night in the cells after police arrested him on board a plane from Bangkok, shortly after it touched down at Heathrow.
The 50-year-old colonel, who is based in the Thai capital, has been bailed until March 3.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “At approximately 17.30 on Thursday February 17 Heathrow police officers boarded an inbound flight following reports of a disturbance on board.
“A 50-year-old male passenger was arrested for being drunk on an aircraft and taken to a west London police station. He was bailed on February 18 to return to a west London police station on March 3.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesman confirmed Colonel Peter Roberts was arrested and that the flight was from Bangkok.
“We cannot comment further as an investigation is underway,” he said.
It has been reported the colonel had been involved in the relief effort following the December 26 tsunami disaster which devastated parts of western Thailand. "
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I guess the point of charging for it is to remove the mentality of "it's free so lets take the opportunity to get plastered." Putting a financial squeeze on the passenger may restrict their drinking.
And, as far as I can remember, my local publican can refuse to serve me no matter how many 20s I wave in his face, if I appear to be inebriated.
And, as far as I can remember, my local publican can refuse to serve me no matter how many 20s I wave in his face, if I appear to be inebriated.
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To the"tolerance" and "let her off - she's made a mistake" brigade, I will paint a scenario for you!
Imagine, the person you love most is flying home. You are at the airport to meet him/her.
Unbeknownst to you, the aircraft is on its final approaches with an overweight, drunken pig sitting in an aisle seat two rows in front of the Emergency Exits - now sleeping it off and snoring loudly.
As the aircraft touches down, it slews violently off the runway with black smoke pluming from one engine. Quickly, the crew deploy the chutes and start evacuating the passengers.
The rearward passengers, and the passengers nearest the front doors are okay, but Mr Drunken Pig has effectively blocked the aisle and the flames are now consuming the wing, cutting off your loved one's escape route!
How would you feel about tolerating drunks now???
As I said in a thread concerning security, without exception, the things we do, and the rules we have to both obey and enforce, in aviation have all come about because lives have been lost!!!
I think two years in jail for endangering lives is quite lenient!
Imagine, the person you love most is flying home. You are at the airport to meet him/her.
Unbeknownst to you, the aircraft is on its final approaches with an overweight, drunken pig sitting in an aisle seat two rows in front of the Emergency Exits - now sleeping it off and snoring loudly.
As the aircraft touches down, it slews violently off the runway with black smoke pluming from one engine. Quickly, the crew deploy the chutes and start evacuating the passengers.
The rearward passengers, and the passengers nearest the front doors are okay, but Mr Drunken Pig has effectively blocked the aisle and the flames are now consuming the wing, cutting off your loved one's escape route!
How would you feel about tolerating drunks now???
As I said in a thread concerning security, without exception, the things we do, and the rules we have to both obey and enforce, in aviation have all come about because lives have been lost!!!
I think two years in jail for endangering lives is quite lenient!
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23 yr old girl vs 50 yr old frequent flyer
Hi bealine,
i absolutly agree with you concerning your scenario.
As flightcrew its my primary target to remove her/him at departure or even at a diversion airport (wouldn´t hesitate at all), or at least have him/her seated in a backrow for the reminder of the flight, even restrain him on the galley floor to guarantee the aircrafts and passengers safety.
But the drunk in an emergency row would have been a big mistake by the crew(!), same case with disabled or elderly in this row (don´t want to put them on the same level, the one chose to drink, the other one didn´t).
I am the last guy who accepts any aggression, even verbally on the plane.
As a pilot, my responsibilty ends here. What follows is my opinion as a pedestrian.
Concerning the POSTFLIGHT jurisdictional point of view, I still believe it is a BIG difference if a 50 yr old frequent flyer in First Class is the aggressor, or if it is a 23 yr old girl in Eco on one of her first long-haul flights.
Rgds Charly
i absolutly agree with you concerning your scenario.
As flightcrew its my primary target to remove her/him at departure or even at a diversion airport (wouldn´t hesitate at all), or at least have him/her seated in a backrow for the reminder of the flight, even restrain him on the galley floor to guarantee the aircrafts and passengers safety.
But the drunk in an emergency row would have been a big mistake by the crew(!), same case with disabled or elderly in this row (don´t want to put them on the same level, the one chose to drink, the other one didn´t).
I am the last guy who accepts any aggression, even verbally on the plane.
As a pilot, my responsibilty ends here. What follows is my opinion as a pedestrian.
Concerning the POSTFLIGHT jurisdictional point of view, I still believe it is a BIG difference if a 50 yr old frequent flyer in First Class is the aggressor, or if it is a 23 yr old girl in Eco on one of her first long-haul flights.
Rgds Charly
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If even reading a story likes this makes fastjet2k so hysterical and fuming, I hope he's not an airline pilot.
Further to your comment which I have quoted above - I am actually in training to become an airline pilot and will be returning to the wonderful world of jet transport in 2006. However, I have come from a Cabin Crew background and drunken and abusive passengers was the most frustrating and nasty part of the job.
Still wondering why I fume when I read stories such as that??
Even if it is not a danger to the pilot or the entire planeload of passengers, I wouldn't want to be the passenger sitting next to this person. It's not as if you can get off the plane mid-flight, and if the flight is full I doubt you could convince another passenger to trade seats with you in this situation.
The other passenger is believed to have suffered a bite wound during the incident.
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I do wonder if some of this is attirbutable to having spent some time in these 'dry' countries. Not that it is an excuse to climb inside a a bottle the minute you leave, but I do believe that a lot of people do not consider the consequences of abstaining for a period of time.
After a self enforced 'dry'period (post xmas diet!
) I did get embarrasingly drunk the first night out after my period off.
It snuck up so quickly that I didn't see coming in the slightest. And the amount I had drunk was compartively small compared to what my tolerance was previously. Maybe airlines need to consider this fact when operating out of the booze free countries.
After a self enforced 'dry'period (post xmas diet!
) I did get embarrasingly drunk the first night out after my period off. It snuck up so quickly that I didn't see coming in the slightest. And the amount I had drunk was compartively small compared to what my tolerance was previously. Maybe airlines need to consider this fact when operating out of the booze free countries.
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You guys get it soo easy imagine you are in a heli coming out of Ascot or newmarket races with your 4 pax who are all pissed out of their heads, and having to fly IFR back to base with nothing between you are your drunk passengers at least you get a cabin door to protect you.
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Take a hike etrang! I like having a drink when I'm flying. If a small percentage of people can't handle drink lock them up and make sure that these people never, ever fly again. Don't penalise me. The vast majority of Cabin Crew I know don't serve poeple who they believe MAY have had too much, and serve NONE to those that they know have had too much. And it's these latter ones who are the problem. These people load up in the airports before flight. So etrang, if you want to get rid if the problem, get rid if the booze before flight by banning booze in terminals, airports, pubs and bars, hotels, supermarkets etc. near airports etc... Your suggestion is one worthy of a politician.
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What etrang has suggested has been suggested to airlines in the past, we actually had a long discussion about it when I was Cabin Crew. As is fairly obvious, banning inflight alcohol was never going to be an option and we, like every other airline, would never even consider doing that. The reasons for this are fairly simple - number one, why penalise the 99.9% of people who behave normally and enjoy themselves, just so that the 0.1% who don't can misbehave and blame something else for their misbehaviour? Number two, if alcohol is banned inflight, passengers will probably drink more in the terminal beforehand and be far more likely to carry their own alcohol onto the aircraft which they will then drink when the crew aren't looking. This means that the crew can no longer monitor the alcohol consumption of these passengers, promoting a possibly worse situation than we had before...
Educating passengers on the danger of over-drinking inflight has also been mulled over, but it's difficult to see how anybody could do any more than has already been done. While it's horrible to be crew on a flight where you have a drunken and disruptive passenger, you just have to accept that if you carry human's on flights for a living, you will have to deal with this sort of situation from time to time. It is a pain in the a**e and very unpleasant for everybody involved, but I fail to see a better and realistic solution to the problem.
Final comment... Piltdown man - you are quite correct by mentioning that the crew will be very aware who is served alcohol and who is not, it's not a god given right for a passenger to be served and it is entirely at the crew's discretion if they choose not to serve them and can justify that decision. I agree that you shouldn't lose out because one idiot has one/ten too many.
Crazybroadsword, Cabin Crew do NOT get a cabin door to protect them, they get a curtain at the very most. However, assuming people do their jobs right, passengers will not be 'pissed' when they board the flight in the first place, as a result the crew can remain in control of the situation. The Captain has the ultimate say in who boards that flight and, regardless of whether he has a flight deck door to protect him or not, that passenger will not be allowed to board. If it does go wrong in flight, you can't even go and talk to the passenger to try and solve it, you have to make your decision on the correct course of action by analysing the information provided to you by the cabin crew, who are sadly having to take the brunt of it behind you. It ain't as easy as you make it sound...
That's my thoughts on the matter anyway... safe drinking/flying all...
FJ2k
Educating passengers on the danger of over-drinking inflight has also been mulled over, but it's difficult to see how anybody could do any more than has already been done. While it's horrible to be crew on a flight where you have a drunken and disruptive passenger, you just have to accept that if you carry human's on flights for a living, you will have to deal with this sort of situation from time to time. It is a pain in the a**e and very unpleasant for everybody involved, but I fail to see a better and realistic solution to the problem.
Final comment... Piltdown man - you are quite correct by mentioning that the crew will be very aware who is served alcohol and who is not, it's not a god given right for a passenger to be served and it is entirely at the crew's discretion if they choose not to serve them and can justify that decision. I agree that you shouldn't lose out because one idiot has one/ten too many.
Crazybroadsword, Cabin Crew do NOT get a cabin door to protect them, they get a curtain at the very most. However, assuming people do their jobs right, passengers will not be 'pissed' when they board the flight in the first place, as a result the crew can remain in control of the situation. The Captain has the ultimate say in who boards that flight and, regardless of whether he has a flight deck door to protect him or not, that passenger will not be allowed to board. If it does go wrong in flight, you can't even go and talk to the passenger to try and solve it, you have to make your decision on the correct course of action by analysing the information provided to you by the cabin crew, who are sadly having to take the brunt of it behind you. It ain't as easy as you make it sound...
That's my thoughts on the matter anyway... safe drinking/flying all...
FJ2k
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assuming people do their jobs right, passengers will not be 'pissed' when they board the flight in the first place
.......and the airlines are trying to make as many passengers as possible On-Line Check In, Self Service check-in or "Night Before" check-in that no aitline staff actually see anyone before they reach the gate!!!
Safe? Secure? Dream On!!!
This is why the courts need to be especially tough with offenders!
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That's funny, it always seemed to work like that until I finished flying a couple of months ago?? Maybe it's changed since then... More to the point, at what point did I say that 'assuming the check-in and boarding staff do their jobs right'? Everybody who works in the airport is responsible for safety and security and passengers have often been caught out by being seen staggering towards the aircraft. Some check-in staff put comments in to have the pax checked at the gate if they believe they have been drinking (at least I did when I was ground staff in common with my colleagues) and the boarding team could often smell it too. Let's also not forget that the passenger has to pass through security en-route the the aircraft and can also be spotted there.
If all that fails, have you ever seen how close the cabin crew get to the passengers when they board an aircraft?! Alcohol is a pretty strong smell and passengers under the influence can fairly easily be detected here. Either way, the system tends to work although I do agree that as ground staff you do not get enough time to assess as perhaps you may in the past. I'm not suggesting it's the airline's agents who are solely responsible, but if everybody is aware (as they usually are) the problem can often be solved before the aircraft doors are closed.
FJ2k
If all that fails, have you ever seen how close the cabin crew get to the passengers when they board an aircraft?! Alcohol is a pretty strong smell and passengers under the influence can fairly easily be detected here. Either way, the system tends to work although I do agree that as ground staff you do not get enough time to assess as perhaps you may in the past. I'm not suggesting it's the airline's agents who are solely responsible, but if everybody is aware (as they usually are) the problem can often be solved before the aircraft doors are closed.
FJ2k
