OUT OF THE BLUE
Coffee, tea or melee? Booze turning friendly skies unruly
By Elliott Hester

Throughout my 16-year career as a flight attendant, I've been caught in the middle of "air rage" incidents that were never mentioned in the job description. I once soothed an antagonistic passenger who threatened to punch me in the face. I confronted an unruly traveler who challenged me to throw him out the airplane window. I've pointed to pugnacious passengers as police officers boarded the airplane. As is the case with most in-flight transgressions, these were attributed to three factors: alcohol, liquor and booze.

The Skyrage Foundation, a watchdog organization aimed at ending in-flight violence, is perhaps the most comprehensive source for information about air rage. It's Web site (www.skyrage.org) posts links to news articles that prove alcohol and flying don't mix. Here's a sample of incidents from one horrendous week in April:

April 18: Steven Handy was sentenced to four years in jail for his actions on an Oct. 1998 British Airtours flight from London to Malaga, Spain. Handy was so drunk he claims he can't remember what happened. But flight attendant Fiona Weir will never forget. After being told that Spanish police were waiting to arrest him upon landing, the 40-year-old Briton smashed a broken vodka bottle into her face. She no longer works for Airtours and is physically scarred for life.

April 19: A United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Shanghai, China, diverted to Anchorage after 22-year-old American twins Cynthia and Crystal Mikula began fighting. When crew members tried to break up the drunken altercation, the identical sisters, who were en route to a modeling competition, allegedly spat on, punched and choked several crew members. Their actions were captured on home video and aired on Dateline NBC. They could face 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.

April 21: Guitarist Peter Buck of the pop band R.E.M. was arrested and charged with being drunk on an aircraft, causing criminal damage to British Airways Flight 48 from Seattle to London, and two counts of assaulting cabin crew. He was released on bond, but must return for a British court hearing on June 18.

April 25: Three hours into an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Los Angeles, Alexandre Stolerman, 52, allegedly got drunk, grabbed one passenger by the throat and pushed a lighted cigarette into the face of another. The Russian was arrested on a federal charge of interfering with a flight crew.

April 25: After 17-year-old Garin Mcgeough flew into a drunken rage, his Frankfurt-bound Singapore Airlines flight diverted to New Delhi, India. The Australian teenager swore at cabin crew and kicked the aircraft window because he was refused more liquor. Seven people, including Mcgeough, were injured in the melee. He's currently serving two months in a Singapore prison.

Over the years, hundreds of similar incidents have darkened the friendly skies. Though the FAA tallied 266 "disruptive passengers" in 2000, the Air Transport Association (a trade organization for U.S. airlines) believes more than 5,000 incidents occurred during the same year. Many were caused by inebriated passengers.

The connection between booze and bad behavior is so glaringly obvious, it's difficult to understand why airlines continue to dispense it. Liquor flows freely in first class, and in the main cabin on most international flights. It's for sale on domestic flights departing morning, noon and night. Herein lies the paradox. Although airlines have established "zero tolerance" policies toward air rage, the most heinous in-flight acts are often fueled by the liquor we provide. Remember Gerard Finneran? Intoxicated and out of control on a United Airlines flight from Buenos Aires to New York on Oct. 20, 1995, the investment banker pulled down his pants and defecated on a first-class serving cart.

Paul Hudson, executive director of the Aviation Consumer Action Project (founded in 1971 by Ralph Nader), asked the FAA to impose a three-drink limit except on very long flights. "There's a high correlation between excessive consumption of alcohol and disruptive passengers," he says. ³A whistle blower from the FAA came to us and said he was demoted because he tried to make alcohol an issue.²

Mr. Hudson's "whistle blower" admission will no doubt raise a few eyebrows. But I'm not sure his three-drink limit will work. Though I've delivered multiple cocktails to passengers who remained amicable and calm, one memorable traveler became pugnacious after downing a single beer. Even if a drink limit is instituted, it'll be difficult to monitor consumption on large aircraft. With so many passengers and crew, someone can order two drinks from six different attendants and none will be the wiser.

Flying in a commercial airplane bears one essential difference to all other social gatherings. It's the only time the public is unable to get help from police or security personnel. If someone goes berserk on a cruise ship, trained security officers will toss him in the brig. If a drunk wreaks havoc in an urban restaurant, a dozen diners can whip out their cell phones and summon police. But at 30,000 feet you can't dial 911. And flight attendants, unlike our counterparts on a cruise ship, don't have the luxury of on-board security officers.|

Because disruptive behavior happens so rarely relative to the astronomical number of commercial flights, the costly implementation of in-flight security is unlikely. As always, a group of able-bodied passengers and crew will come to the rescue during alcohol-inspired outbursts.

Truth be told, the cessation of alcohol service may be the only way to curb in-flight transgressions. But there's one tragic flaw in this concept. Since the first commercial airplanes leapt into the wild blue yonder, legions of fearful flyers have relied on booze to calm their frazzled nerves. Who knows what new demons will be unleashed should the liquor cart stop rolling down the aisle.