AIR RAGE
Flying in the age of air rage
When pilots are stabbed to death and flight attendants are taken to
the hospital in ambulances, the skies are out of control.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Elliott Neal Hester
Sept. 7, 1999 | On Dec. 16, 1997, aboard US Airways flight 38
bound for Baltimore from Los Angeles, Dean Trammel, a muscular
200-pound college football player, began wandering the aisle,
tapping passengers on the shoulder with a pillow. "Touch me and
you'll live forever," he said, offering his own version of eternal
salvation. "We're all going to go to heaven." Some passengers were
visibly irritated. Others became afraid.
Flight attendant Renee Sheffer, a former psychiatric nurse,
instantly recognized that the passenger was experiencing a
psychotic episode. Sheffer knew what to do. She didn't confront
him physically, and she didn't rebuke him. Instead, the 12-year
flight attendant calmly guided the passenger -- who had begun
proclaiming that he was Jesus Christ -- to the rear galley, away
from passengers, whose complaints were becoming increasingly
more vocal. She spoke in a soothing voice and managed, or so it
seemed, to get him to relax. He closed his eyes, knelt on the carpet
and began a mumbling, nonsensical prayer.
Then he grabbed her breast.
She recoiled.
"I'm sorry!" he said.
Suddenly, his demeanor changed from apologetic to purposeful. "I
need to bless the pilots," he said. "I need to deliver a message to
them."
Despite Sheffer's pleas, Trammel headed up the aisle toward the
cockpit. The veteran flight attendant understood what could result
should a mentally disturbed passenger -- especially a physically
powerful one -- breach the cockpit door. She immediately grabbed
the phone. "A male passenger is coming to try to get into the
cockpit," she said. "You better prepare yourselves."
A quick-thinking first-class flight attendant blocked the cockpit door
with a service cart. But when Trammel approached and insisted he
be let in, the two got into a tussle. The flight attendant was shoved
to the floor.
By now, Sheffer had arrived. Once again she tried to calm
Trammel. There was a brief argument as he insisted on being let
into the cockpit, then she was able to convince him to return to the
rear of the plane. At some point, however, Trammel became
enraged. With a sudden swipe of his arm, he flung Sheffer's
114-pound body across three rows of seats. She crashed into the
rear bulkhead and slid like a rag doll to the airplane floor.
Having witnessed the attack, a U.S. Marines MP and two
off-work US Airways pilots wrestled Trammel to the ground. A
fourth male passenger jumped in to help. The pilots obtained
handcuffs. Someone grabbed seat-belt extensions and Trammel,
still thrashing, clawing and blabbering, was finally tied up by his
wrists, elbows, ankles, knees and legs. The plane landed with the
two off-duty pilots sitting on top of him.
During the melee, Trammel had kicked Sheffer into an exit door
and repeatedly bit the men who were trying to restrain him.
According to witnesses, blood was splattered everywhere. Two of
the men sustained bite wounds and cuts. And Sheffer suffered
internal bleeding, kidney and bladder trauma, spinal trauma, a
separated shoulder, a torn meniscus in her right knee, bruises on
her back and stomach, cuts and abrasions. Later, she would suffer
from post-traumatic stress.
When flight 38 finally landed in Baltimore, Sheffer was rushed by
ambulance to a hospital. Trammel was taken into custody by
police. He was released the same night and later scheduled to
appear in court to face charges of aggravated assault and
interference with a flight crew.
Despite admitting to the FBI that he had taken LSD before the
flight, and despite the physical and mental damage inflicted upon
flight attendant Sheffer, Trammel never went to prison. District
Judge Catherine Blake found the defendant guilty of assault and
reckless endangerment of an aircraft but nevertheless ruled he was
not criminally responsible for his actions because he was "mentally
ill" and had experienced a "psychotic episode." He was slapped
with a $1,500 punitive fine (which, according to Sheffer, he has yet
to pay), three years' probation and 150 hours of community service,
he was forced to undergo psychiatric treatment and, for a
three-year period that is still under way, he is required to obtain
written permission from an airline before boarding one of its flights.
As a result of the attack, Renee Sheffer was forced to undergo
three separate operations. Later this fall, after nearly two years of
recuperation, she will finally return to work at US Airways. But the
skies won't be as friendly as she once believed them to be. She
worries about being victimized in another in-flight attack.
Copyright © 2000 Salon.com All rights reserved
FLYING IN THE AGE OF AIR RAGE
Two air rage-related bills currently await approval by Congress.
One would increase the civil penalty from $1,100 (the same amount
imposed on passengers who light up cigarettes) to no more than
$25,000 for passengers who assault crew members or otherwise
interfere with their duties. Another bill would allow local law
enforcement offers to detain and arrest suspects.
Should they be passed into law, these will be welcome antidotes
indeed -- especially if you consider the recent rash of air rage
incidents:
Oct. 30, 1998: An Airtours charter flight attendant was hit over the
head with a large vodka bottle by Steve Handy, a drunken British
passenger, who had been asked to stop smoking. The attendant,
Fiona Weir, of South London, required 18 stitches to close her head
wound. Handy was subsequently banned from flying on any British
airline.
Jan. 16, 1999: An intoxicated Briton allegedly punched the door
window of a British Airways jet and smashed the inner protective
layer, threatening to cause a decompression at 35,000 feet.
According to witnesses, the man became abusive halfway through
the 14-hour flight. He harassed the woman seated next to him,
ripped off her headphones, then bit them in half. After punching the
window, he scuffled with four flight attendants and four passengers
before finally being overpowered. He is currently on trial for
assault and interference with a flight crew.
May 14, 1999: A Senegalese man attacked the pilot and co-pilot of
an Air France plane en route to Dakar from Paris. After he was
restrained by fellow passengers, an onboard doctor injected him
with a tranquilizer. Soon after the injection, the passenger suffered
a heart attack and died. One year earlier, an unruly passenger on a
Malev Hungarian airliner suffered a similar fate. After he punched
a pilot and tried to choke a flight attendant, he was restrained. A
doctor injected him with a sedative. The autopsy revealed that his
death was caused by a mixture of the tranquilizer and some other
drug or alcohol.
July 22, 1999: At Newark International Airport, a 50-year-old
Continental Airlines gate agent was allegedly slammed to the floor
after telling a passenger to wait at the boarding gate. Angelo Sottile
sustained three fractures to his cervical, neck and spine area, and
may never walk again. The American suspect, 29-year-old John
Davis, has been charged with aggravated assault.
July 23, 1999: Minutes after an All Nippon Airways jumbo jet took
off from Tokyo's Haneda Airport, a 28-year-old Tokyo man pulled
an 8-inch knife on a flight attendant. He forced his way into the
cockpit, told the co-pilot to leave, stabbed Capt. Naoyuki
Nagashima in the neck and shoulder, then took control of the
aircraft. At one point the plane plunged to within 300 meters of the
ground. The co-pilot and two ANA employees stormed the cockpit
and overpowered the man. A non-uniformed pilot reportedly landed
the plane safely, but Captain Nagashima bled to death. The suspect
later told investigators he liked to play flight simulation games and
wanted to fly a real plane.
July 24, 1999: Hung Cong Duong, a Vietnamese citizen, was
arrested at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. Duong
was upset because flight attendants had told him to wait his turn
after he got up from his seat and demanded a drink. An FBI
spokesman said "he overturned the drink tray, and hot coffee
spilled on a lady and her baby." On the way back to his seat,
Duong allegedly assaulted two more passengers. A 12-year-old girl
suffered bruises along the way.
July 29, 1999: A U.S. citizen identified only as Roderick W.
became enraged when he learned that his British Airways flight
would be landing at Heathrow Airport instead of Gatwick. During
his subsequent violent on-board outburst, one crew member was
slightly injured. While he was being escorted off the plane and into
the terminal by law enforcement officers, the passenger grabbed
an officer's gun. He fired at the officer and then at himself; luckily,
the weapon failed to discharge.
Aug. 14, 1999: After punching a British Airways crew member on
a flight to Singapore, Richard John Weeden was arrested and
charged with four counts of assault and for being drunk on an
aircraft. He pleaded guilty and is currently serving a one-year
sentence in a Singapore prison. Two weeks earlier, on another
British Airways flight, a Danish woman punched another passenger
and assaulted a crew member. She was handcuffed to her seat and
taken away by police upon arrival. On Aug. 5, aboard a Singapore
Airlines flight, an American man went on a drunken rampage and
is currently serving a six-month prison term.
Incidents such as these have forced countries to take a hard stand
against in-flight misbehavior of any sort. The United Kingdom --
unhampered by law enforcement jurisdictional restrictions that exist
in the United States, and recognized for its no-nonsense approach
to airline safety and security issues -- has become a leader in the
prosecution of violent airline passengers. Responding to a 400
percent increase in violent attacks during the past three years,
British courts have begun to routinely dispense three-year jail terms
for air-ragers. Ian Bottomly, a South African plumber, received
such a sentence after flying into a rage when told by a British
Airways captain to cease watching pornography on his laptop
computer.
The British government has clamped down so hard, in fact, that
British Airways passenger Neil Whitehouse was recently
sentenced to 12 months in jail for refusing to switch off his cellular
phone during a flight from Madrid to Manchester. Though
Whitehouse's sentence may seem extreme, Judge Anthony Ensor
was reportedly angered by the man's "arrogance and disdain" when
refusing to hand over his phone to pilot David Travis after being
told it might interfere with navigation. Whitehouse had replied:
"Why? Are we going to get lost?" After passing judgement, Judge
Ensor said, "Any sentence must not only punish you, but act as a
warning to others who might be inclined to behave similarly."
Though U.S. courts have yet to pass similar judgments against
in-flight cellular phone abusers, they have begun to crack down on
violent flyers. Gary Lee Lougee, a Georgia native, is currently
serving a 51-month prison term for attacking a US Airways flight
attendant and threatening to throw her off the airplane because she
refused to serve him more alcohol.
In another alcohol-related incident, British passenger Christopher
Bayes was recently convicted of one misdemeanor charge of
assault aboard a Delta Airlines jet. On June 5 the plane was forced
to divert to Maine's Bangor International Airport after Bayes threw
punches and touched two female flight attendants in a sexually
suggestive way. According to court records, he had consumed six
or seven beers before boarding. He consumed two more drinks in
first class and was then cut off by flight attendants who claimed he
was loud and abusive. He became enraged, tossed salad on
another passenger and punched flight attendant Mario Garcia, who
attempted to restrain him. Bayes' lip was cut during the ensuing
melee. Later, he spat blood at Garcia, who held him on the floor
until the plane landed. A mistrial let Bayes off the hook for the
more serious felony charge of interference with a flight crew,
which holds a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He could
receive up to six months for the assault conviction; he will be
sentenced in a few weeks.
A handful of U.S. carriers -- including Northwest, TWA and
United -- have implemented "zero tolerance" policies to ensure that
abusive passengers are banned from flying for life. United Airlines
customers so designated will receive severance letters from
company management, says spokeswoman Kristina Price. "The
letters will say, 'You are no longer welcome on our airline.'"
The largest airline in the United States has thrown a one-two punch
in the fight against physically abusive passengers. Unlike many
airlines, United's in-house attorneys dispense free legal advice to
employees victimized by angry passengers. When an employee is
required to testify against a defendant, he or she is given time off
with pay. "We will not tolerate physical assaults," says Price.
"Employees have the right to be safe at work."
salon.com | Sept. 7, 1999
By Elliott Neal Hester 08/17/99
Copyright © 2000 Salon.com All rights reserved.
04/03/00- Updated 11:10 AM ET
Fewer fliers are losing their cool
Air rage declines despite recent high-profile cases
By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY
Air rage incidents on U.S. airlines appear to be in sharp decline, despite
continuing news reports about angry passengers going on airborne rampages,
new federal statistics show.
Airlines referred 178 cases of assaults, threats, intimidation and interference
with a flight crew last year to the Federal Aviation Administration, down 39%
from 1998. That's down 42% from the peak year of 1997, when 308 cases
were recorded, the FAA says. And this year, the FAA reports 25 cases
through March 23, raising a chance of a third annual decline.
Officials say they cannot explain the drop, but they hope it shows that
enforcement and public education are paying off. The FAA investigates cases
of unruly fliers and can levy civil fines against them.
"The point we've been trying to drive home is this type of behavior is
unacceptable," says FAA spokeswoman Alison Duquette. "We feel this
message is getting out."
A factor that could accelerate the drop is the FAA funding bill President
Clinton may sign as soon as this week. It raises the maximum penalty for
interfering with a flight crew from $1,100 to $25,000 per violation.
"This is not a trivial type of transgression," says John Mazor, a spokesman for
the Air Line Pilots Association. "We want passengers to know this is a
federal offense."
The FAA's latest report of a reduction "is great news," says anti-air-rage
crusader Michael Sheffer, who is married to a flight attendant and who edits
the skyrage.org Web site. But he also believes air rage incidents are
underreported.
And high-profile incidents have kept air rage in the public eye. Five airlines
are considering fortifying cockpit doors on MD-80s and DC-9s after an
incident last month. A passenger broke into an Alaska Airlines' cockpit and
was subdued by passengers and the co-pilot, who grabbed a fire ax.
While the problem is worldwide, the International Air Transport Association
says incidents are decreasing in countries that have cracked down.
The Association of Flight Attendants has lobbied for more action. The union
wants an FAA-required warning against interfering with the flight crew added
to the security questions gate agents must ask customers. And they want
airport ads urging fliers to keep their cool.
AFA spokesman Jeff Zack says he is "tremendously pleased" at the big drop
in air rage cases, "but it only takes one bad incident of air rage to kill everyone
on an aircraft."