Ban All Alcohol On Flights

[evdok]

A plane was forced to make an emergency landing when two British women tried to open the cabin door mid-flight, police have said.
The women were drinking on board an XL Airways flight flight from Kos in Greece to Manchester on Wednesday afternoon when they became rowdy.
The plane made an emergency landing at Frankfurt Airport in Germany and the women were held in their seats by security staff until their arrest, Hartmut Scherer, a spokesman for the city's police force said.
Police said the women, aged 26 and 27, became violent because they were refused more alcohol when the plane was 30,000ft over Austria.
During the incident, the 26-year-old also attacked a flight attendant with a bottle of vodka.
Mr Scherer said: "Both the women drunk a lot of alcohol on the plane and it was a risk because they made some trouble. The captain thought it was better to make an unscheduled stop in Frankfurt and get them off the plane. They wanted to open a door in the plane but that was not possible and someone from the security held them in their seats until the landing."
The women were questioned by police but released and allowed to return to the UK. Mr Scherer said police were deciding whether to press charges and the women could also be fined or forced to pay compensation.
A spokeswoman for XL Airways said the women were thought to be smoking in the plane toilet and were suspected of bringing their own alcohol on to the plane. After staff refused to sell them more drink, they started threatening and swearing at staff, she said.
The pair then said they wanted to open the door at 30,000 feet to get "some fresh air" in to the plane.
"Their language was totally unacceptable, as was their behaviour," she ssaid. They were very abusive and threatening. We won't tolerate this sort of behaviour. The cabin crew did an excellent job and were very professional." She said the airline was considering taking legal action against the passengers.

Crazy people, lifetime ban if you ask me!

 

[whitenemesis]

Where's the sky marshals when you need 'em?

Equip flight attendants with tazers!

 

[evdok]

Or have a cage in the cargo department specially for this kind of thing

 

[Carrotchomper]

Or invent some kind of airlock to the doors, and leave them to it.

 

[Spinal]

Bah.... I still feel that we're heading back in time... we are going to end up in a society where everything is controlled! Instead of banning alcohol on flights, they should ban the people from flying... or as suggested above, taze them! A glass of red wine on a long journey shouldn't hurt you - it's all about reasonable quantities.

I thought that there is a pressurised area to store pets in the cargo bay... instant "time-out" box

Michele

 

[whitenemesis]

Bah.... I still feel that we're heading back in time... we are going to end up in a society where everything is controlled! Instead of banning alcohol on flights, they should ban the people from flying... or as suggested above, taze them! A glass of red wine on a long journey shouldn't hurt you - it's all about reasonable quantities.

I thought that there is a pressurised area to store pets in the cargo bay... instant "time-out" box

Michele

A justification for lockable seat belts?

Don't legistrate for the minority...

 

[oldcro]

Those women should be made to pay all the costs of the unsheduled landing and then banned from flying on any commercial flight ever again.

As for drinks on board, you will not be allowed to board a plane if deemed drunk at loading time. Yet people often have a few drinks before boarding and then can drink more during the flight possibly making them drunk.

What if it was two strong men who being drunk tried to open the door, it could then result in a massive depressurisation and the plane crashing. For safetys sake no alcohol should be sold or allowed in the cabin of any flight. If you cannot go without a drink for the duration of even the longest flight then perhaps a visit to AA is recommended. Not having a harmless glass of wine or spirits against the loss of 400 lives when a jumbo jet crashes leaves no option in my opinion.

 

[Donza]

Ban alcohol? i dont agree.

This country is turning into a nanny state. Why should others who enjoy a swift drink on the plane be refused a drink due to these two morons.

These are grown-up individuals who make their own life-choices. If anything an example should be made out of these two.

If someone wanted to open a cabin door. They could have done so armed with a knife or a pen for that matter.

15 lads including me went on a stag-do in Poland. We took on four bottles of jack-daniels. In the space of 45 minutes, all said drink had been consumed. All the while trolly dollies were handing out food etc. The last thing we wanted ot do was cause chaos on the plane.

I remember on the way back. A polish guy lit up a fag in the toilet. The stewardess shrieked at him, the plane did a full circle thing. And armed guards were waiting for the poor guy on the landing strip. They then boarded the plane and jostled him off. THEN he was thrown into a cell for the night. Welcome to Britain indeed lol..

The lad could not even speak English. I agree that this guy deserved to be reprimanded. But armed guards?

 

[kikkthecat]

For safetys sake no alcohol should be sold or allowed in the cabin of any flight.

Unfortunately people with that kind of thinking have found themselves in charge.
Why should we have to legislate against everybody just to get to the stupidest in society ? And why is a ban usually the first option ?
It's everywhere in the name of safety, from cars banned from the drop off points at airports to conkers banned in playgrounds. There is a whole industry built around health and safety and most of it is involved in looking for things to ban. Shouldn't the aim be to make things "as safe as necessary" rather than "as safe as possible"

Why not just deal with the people involved ? It's not hard to revoke a passport and it's extremely difficult to get on a plane without one.

 

[Dryce]

If someone wanted to open a cabin door. They could have done so armed with a knife or a pen for that matter.

Assuming the article means the external doors then in principle it is not possible to force these at altitude as long as the aircraft is pressurised.

The doors are effectively plugs and the internal cabin pressure will hold them in place.

15 lads including me went on a stag-do in Poland. We took on four bottles of jack-daniels. In the space of 45 minutes, all said drink had been consumed. All the while trolly dollies were handing out food etc. The last thing we wanted ot do was cause chaos on the plane.

It's against the rules to consume your own alcohol on board.

It's also against the rules to accept intoxicated passengers.

The airlines are inconsistent at enforcement. The airports are happy to have the trade in their bars and duty free.

I know people in the industry who are well p*ss*d off that some evening flights on some routes have disturbances breaking out almost every trip.

I remember on the way back. A polish guy lit up a fag in the toilet. The stewardess shrieked at him, the plane did a full circle thing. And armed guards were waiting for the poor guy on the landing strip. They then boarded the plane and jostled him off. THEN he was thrown into a cell for the night. Welcome to Britain indeed lol..

The lad could not even speak English. I agree that this guy deserved to be reprimanded. But armed guards?

I'd go further. I'd set the convention that anybody disrupting a flight due to drink or attempting to light up is responsible for reimbursing the airline and authorities for all costs, and has to compensate the passengers for nuisance and delay.

 

[glojo]

I cringe now when I see the behaviour of a very large minority of British citizens that think it clever to consume large quantities of alcohol?? WHY?? Why is it necessary to drink so much? Do we now lack the ability to enjoy ourselves unless we are drunk? These two women not only let themselves down they let us all down and you can bet this incident is being broadcast World-wide.

I'm an ex-serviceman and I think it fair to say I have watered many a porcelain wall Worldwide, but we always only drank enough to be merry. No matter where I travelled folks alweays wanted to meet us and talk about life in Great Britain, now I should imagine they now think a large minority of us are all mindless idiots that only go on holiday to get drunk?

These women will say the airline over reacted, newspapers will buy their story and next week we will be reading similar stories of other British holiday-makers doing exactly the same thing.

WHY ON EARTH WERE THESE TWO IDIOTS ALLOWED TO FLY HOME? They should have been made to use road or rail transportation and as has been said banned for life from using airlines.

 

[Spinal]

What if it was two strong men who being drunk tried to open the door, it could then result in a massive depressurisation and the plane crashing. For safetys sake no alcohol should be sold or allowed in the cabin of any flight. If you cannot go without a drink for the duration of even the longest flight then perhaps a visit to AA is recommended. Not having a harmless glass of wine or spirits against the loss of 400 lives when a jumbo jet crashes leaves no option in my opinion.

Why does alcohol have to be involved? If two strong men wanted to open the door it would have been the same situation without the women... and the alcohol... just the door! My point is, if you take out the alcohol, the situation is the same... (yesterday I drank gin&tonic and I got drunk, today I drunk vodka&tonic... I still got drunk. Hence, by your logic, if you ban tonic I would stop getting drunk...)

Assuming the article means the external doors then in principle it is not possible to force these at altitude as long as the aircraft is pressurised.

The doors are effectively plugs and the internal cabin pressure will hold them in place.

While I agree that the doors wont be openable at altitude - I never really understood this to be frank - surely the artificial pressure in the cabin is higher than the atmospheric pressure outside? I'm thinking maybe the high speed wind may play a role...

I'd go further. I'd set the convention that anybody disrupting a flight due to drink or attempting to light up is responsible for reimbursing the airline and authorities for all costs, and has to compensate the passengers for nuisance and delay.

That's where I disagree. If draconian measures are put in place, the next thing I will expect will be the banning of babies and small children on planes... (or drugging, like they do with pets)

Alcohol abuse is a problem, no-matter where it occurs. Why isn't alcohol banned "on land"? Simply because the majority of people see the benefits (and if you don't you've never tried a glass of Chablis Grand Cru with some oysters - and that's leaving aside the dubious medical benefits).

I'd like to make a risque reference to the "war on terror" and terrorism in general. It is the actions of a very small minority who destroy it for the rest. Instead of restricting everyone, the minority needs to be identified and dealt with.

Michele

 

[scumbag]

the doors have to come in before they can be opened. It will be almost impossible to open as you would have some pressure pushing the door against the direction of travel. Even 2 strong men. You would be more likely to break the handle, or pull the door trim away.

You would also not be able to open it on the ground, if the aircraft remains pressurised.

they do have a little valve that can be opened to release cabin pressure it that is the case.

These people will probably end up having to pay for all the extra costs, and will not be allowed to fly using British registered aircraft again. This may even go as far as other aircraft operators too.

 

[Spinal]

the doors have to come in before they can be opened. It will be almost impossible to open as you would have some pressure pushing the door against the direction of travel. Even 2 strong men. You would be more likely to break the handle, or pull the door trim away.

You would also not be able to open it on the ground, if the aircraft remains pressurised.

WEE! You're awake!

Just to clarify, so the door opens inwards, not outwards? (but in Air Force One he opened to door outwards and proceeded to hang there for a few minutes )

Sorry to derail the topic!

 

[agatward]

Just to clarify, so the door opens inwards, not outwards?

Yes, the doors on most commercial airliners open inwards - this also helps with ensuring they don't get in the way for the steps / platform to be put in place for offloading passengers.

Getting back on-topic (kinda)... I personally don't drink alcohol before or during a flight, and don't see a major problem with people drinking one or two before the flight; however in-flight a lot of peoples' attitudes change, regardless of whether they have consumed alcohol or not. I vaguely remember reading something about the effect of altitude and the cabin pressure on the rate of absorption of alcohol into the blood stream.

The big question though is perhaps not even to do with causing an incident during a flight, but how would people who have had 'one to many' deal with an emergency situation, such as the one we saw with Qantas recently? If this plane had had to land in the sea for whatever reason, would the drunken people be with it enough to be able to deal with getting the life jacket on, getting out the plane, then inflating it?

As for the two 'ladies' in this particular incident, I have no sympathy for them, agree with the view that they should have been made to take road or rail transport for the final leg of their journey (preferably under police escort), and that they have done nothing to help the reputation of the British abroad.

*inserts 2p into the conversation*

 

[fuzzer]

take their passports off them simple and easy way. Maybe set a £50k bond should they need to fly again which they loose if they misbehave.

Would make people think twice before doing that again.

 

[glojo]

take their passports off them simple and easy way. Maybe set a £50k bond should they need to fly again which they loose if they misbehave.

Would make people think twice before doing that again.

Sorry but to me that is being too namby pamby. There choice to get drunk, their choice to misbehave. Animals have to travel in cages in the cargo hold, but this would infringe their human rights so ban them.

John

 

[Dieselman]

I remember on the way back. A polish guy lit up a fag in the toilet. The stewardess shrieked at him, the plane did a full circle thing. And armed guards were waiting for the poor guy on the landing strip. They then boarded the plane and jostled him off. THEN he was thrown into a cell for the night. Welcome to Britain indeed lol..

The lad could not even speak English. I agree that this guy deserved to be reprimanded. But armed guards?

A spokeswoman for XL Airways said the women were thought to be smoking in the plane toilet

Smoking in the toilets of planes can cause an explosion, so is very serious indeed.

Both sets of individuals know that shouldn't have been smoking on the planes which is why they went to the toilets.

 

[V8mate]

Smoking in the toilets of planes can cause an explosion, so is very serious indeed.

Both sets of individuals know that shouldn't have been smoking on the planes which is why they went to the toilets.

How many planes exactly have blown up due to cigarette smoking from the 1920's to the 1990's when smoking was then banned onboard?

 

[garystu1965]

How many planes exactly have blown up due to cigarette smoking from the 1920's to the 1990's when smoking was then banned onboard?

None that I can think of.