Strict sentences for those found guilty of endangering aircraft
Air rage passengers now face five-year prison sentences following a change in the law aimed at slowing a fast-rise in the number of in-flight incidents.
The new Aviation Offences Act, which came into force on Friday, means that anyone found guilty of endangering an aircraft faces five years in jail – up from two years – while police officers may now automatically arrest anyone who is drunk, ignores airline staff or smokes on a flight.
The Government reported that there had been 648 “significant” incidents in the last year, a rise of some 16 per cent; smoking accounted for 40 per cent of disturbances and alcohol was involved in 42 per cent of cases, according to The Guardian.
The general secretary of the airline pilots’ union Balpa, Jim McAuslan, told the newspaper: “Far too many lives of both air passengers and crews have been put at risk by lager louts, champagne Charlies and ordinary people who get into a rage.”
