0524
Jun 24, 01, 4:56 pm
From Anchorage Daily News (6/24/01):
Anchorage is attracting a whole new class of air traveler these days -- Asia-bound troublemakers who need to be dumped somewhere so a flight can continue safely and in peace.
Twin sisters from Michigan accused of fighting with each other and attacking the crew made national news when their Shanghai-bound jetliner was forced to land here in April. But that was just the latest in a string of such cases here, and according to the FBI, the problem seems to be getting worse.
Since January of last year, seven international flights with no intention of touching ground in Alaska have detoured to the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to get rid of high-flying problems.
Another flight, from Anchorage to Seattle, pulled a U-turn last July to deliver a woman who bit a flight officer on the arm, yelled profanities and threw a full can of beer at an attendant's chest. Passengers eventually restrained her with trouser belts.
Six other cases of unruly passengers on scheduled Anchorage-bound flights also triggered FBI investigations over the past year-and-a-half, said agency spokesman Eric Gonzales.
The result of this is that Anchorage is now known as a prime diversion spot among airlines that fly North America-Asia routes, said Airline Pilots Association spokesman Paul Hamrick, who flies for United Airlines.
"It's in a direct line from San Francisco and Tokyo," Hamrick said.
On the other side of the country, air ragers disrupting North Atlantic flights have earned Bangor, Maine, the unofficial title of air rage capitol of America.
Bangor International Airport -- equipped with a landing strip once used by the U.S. Air Force -- is the last stop for planes headed to western Europe from the United States, and the first stop for those coming in, said assistant airport director Rebecca Hupp. According to The Associated Press, the Bangor airport gets eight to 12 planes a year dropping off unruly passengers.
In addition to their locations, Anchorage and Bangor have what airliners need in such situations.
Anchorage and Bangor both offer a local FBI office experienced in dealing with air rage cases and airports that can accommodate international jumbo jets.
Although both airports have developed a procedure for dealing with air rage, airliner diversion is hardly ever as simple as dropping misbehaving passengers off and resuming flight. The FBI has to interview passengers and the crew. Travelers often miss connecting flights because of the delay. More often than not in Anchorage, the unscheduled stop strands travelers overnight because of legal limits on the number of hours air crews can work.
Anchorage is attracting a whole new class of air traveler these days -- Asia-bound troublemakers who need to be dumped somewhere so a flight can continue safely and in peace.
Twin sisters from Michigan accused of fighting with each other and attacking the crew made national news when their Shanghai-bound jetliner was forced to land here in April. But that was just the latest in a string of such cases here, and according to the FBI, the problem seems to be getting worse.
Since January of last year, seven international flights with no intention of touching ground in Alaska have detoured to the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to get rid of high-flying problems.
Another flight, from Anchorage to Seattle, pulled a U-turn last July to deliver a woman who bit a flight officer on the arm, yelled profanities and threw a full can of beer at an attendant's chest. Passengers eventually restrained her with trouser belts.
Six other cases of unruly passengers on scheduled Anchorage-bound flights also triggered FBI investigations over the past year-and-a-half, said agency spokesman Eric Gonzales.
The result of this is that Anchorage is now known as a prime diversion spot among airlines that fly North America-Asia routes, said Airline Pilots Association spokesman Paul Hamrick, who flies for United Airlines.
"It's in a direct line from San Francisco and Tokyo," Hamrick said.
On the other side of the country, air ragers disrupting North Atlantic flights have earned Bangor, Maine, the unofficial title of air rage capitol of America.
Bangor International Airport -- equipped with a landing strip once used by the U.S. Air Force -- is the last stop for planes headed to western Europe from the United States, and the first stop for those coming in, said assistant airport director Rebecca Hupp. According to The Associated Press, the Bangor airport gets eight to 12 planes a year dropping off unruly passengers.
In addition to their locations, Anchorage and Bangor have what airliners need in such situations.
Anchorage and Bangor both offer a local FBI office experienced in dealing with air rage cases and airports that can accommodate international jumbo jets.
Although both airports have developed a procedure for dealing with air rage, airliner diversion is hardly ever as simple as dropping misbehaving passengers off and resuming flight. The FBI has to interview passengers and the crew. Travelers often miss connecting flights because of the delay. More often than not in Anchorage, the unscheduled stop strands travelers overnight because of legal limits on the number of hours air crews can work.