FAA PROPOSES CIVIL PENALTIES AGAINST TEN PASSENGERS FOR ALLEGEDLY INTERFERRING WITH FLIGHT ATTENDANTS
June 30, 2021
The FAA issued four separate Press Releases on May 5th, 10th, 17th, and 24th in regards to fifteen instances in which passengers interfered with flight attendants on commercial flights. Federal law currently requires that passengers refrain from interfering with aircraft crew and strictly prohibits threatening to assault, or actually physically assaulting, aircraft crew or any other passengers on board an aircraft. The FAA has strictly enforced a zero-tolerance policy in these cases for several months.
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$32,750 – A passenger allegedly failed to comply with multiple flight attendants’ instructions to wear a facemask, threw an empty alcohol bottle that almost struck another passenger, threw food into the air, shouted obscenities at crewmembers, and grabbed and struck two different flight attendants.
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$16,500 – A passenger allegedly refused to comply with two flight attendants’ instructions to wear a facemask. The passenger then became combative and began using offensive language, and when asked to leave the plane, hit a flight attendant with his bags.
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$9,000 – A passenger refused to comply with several requests to return to her seat during takeoff.
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$9,000 – A passenger allegedly failed to comply with multiple flight attendants’ instructions to wear a facemask and due to this, was removed from the plane.
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$10,500 – A passenger repeatedly ignored flight attendants’ instructions and then proceeded to become abusive to flight attendants who repeatedly instructed him to put on a facemask. At one point, while not wearing a mask, the passenger even coughed and blew his nose into a blanket, further disrupting crewmembers from their duties.
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$9,000 – A passenger acted disruptively while boarding his flight by yelling, slamming overhead bins, and shouting profanities at crewmembers that included threats to harass a flight attendant. This passenger ended up being removed from the plane.
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$52,000 – A passenger interfered by trying to open the cockpit door, repeatedly refusing to comply with crewmembers’ instructions, and physically assaulting a flight attendant by striking him in the face and pushing him to the floor. The passenger then threatened a flight attendant while a group, which included another passenger, attempted to restrain him.
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$27,000 – A passenger was accused of yelling and forcefully banging his hands on the seat in front of him, disturbing nearby passengers. The passenger then proceeded to yell that he was going to kill someone and that he had a bomb and was going to blow up the aircraft. The flight had to be diverted and the passenger was taken into police custody after the plane landed.
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$18,500 – A passenger allegedly drank and continued to drink alcohol not provided by the airline, even after being told to stop by a flight attendant. The passenger also repeatedly removed his facemask and caused other disturbances that forced the flight attendants and pilots to be distracted from performing their duties.
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$9,000 – A passenger allegedly refused to comply with a flight attendant’s repeated instruction to wear a facemask. Later, the passenger walked to the front of the plane to use the lavatory and sat in the exit row because the lavatory was occupied. Then, when a flight attendant told the passenger she could not sit in the exit row, she got up, stood close to the flight attendant without wearing a facemask over her mouth and nose, and screamed at the flight attendant.
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$15,000 – A passenger allegedly yelled obscenities at a flight attendant and followed him to the first-class section, then assaulted the flight attendant by hitting him with her body and almost pushing him into the lavatory. The plane was diverted by the captain and the passenger was removed from the aircraft.
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$15,000 – A passenger allegedly drank his own alcohol and talked on his cell phone during the flight after flight attendants told him it was prohibited. After the flight attendant again told him those activities were not allowed, he repeatedly yelled at the flight attendant, distracting them from performing their duties.
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$15,000 – A passenger allegedly pushed and/or shoved a flight attendant when flight attendants walked down the aisle to document which passengers were not wearing facemasks.
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$10,500 – A passenger was allegedly not wearing his facemask or not wearing it so it covered his mouth and nose after the boarding door had closed and following multiple announcements about the requirement to wear facemasks. Flight attendants repeatedly instructed him to wear his facemask properly, and each time, the passenger refused to comply with the instructions and shouted profanities at the flight attendants. When gate agents, and eventually law enforcement, boarded the aircraft and asked the passenger to leave the aircraft, the passenger became combative and irate and loudly refused to get off.
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$9,000 – A passenger allegedly refused a flight attendant instruction to pull his facemask up so it covered his nose. The flight attendant then gave the passenger a mask, and he threw it on the floor, and said he would not comply with the facemask policy. The cabin crew alerted the captain about the passenger’s behavior, and the captain arranged for law enforcement to meet the aircraft when it arrived in Houston.
Passengers have 30 days after receiving an FAA enforcement letter to respond to the agency.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6622); Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6665), or Andy Orr (aorr@eckertsemans.com or 202-659-6625).
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