Man Caught Repeatedly Smoking & Drinking From Private Stash Arrested After Forcing Flight to Turn Around
Jeff Edwards March 02, 2015
A passenger’s vices finally caught up with him onboard a Jetstar flight, forcing the aircraft to return to Melbourne.
After a Jetstar Airways passenger was caught smoking for the second time less than an hour into his flight to Perth Airport (PER), the crew made the decision to return to Melbourne Airport (MEL). According to a report from the Sydney Morning Herald, in addition to a stunning addiction to nicotine, the unnamed passenger is also accused of hitting a private stash of booze he snuck on the flight with him.
An explanation of the unscheduled landing can be heard on cellphone video, which documents the offending passenger’s removal from the flight. A flight attendant addressed the remaining passengers as authorities escorted the man from the aircraft, stating:
“Folks, I can now explain to you why we had to come back to Melbourne. As you can obviously see, that passenger was not only drinking his own alcohol brought, but he was caught smoking twice. We carry jet fuel which is ten times more volatile than car fuel, so for safety reasons [we had to come back].”
“Unfortunately, it was within about an hour into the flight that the passenger was disruptive,” a Jetstar representative told the Herald. “We regret that the passenger’s actions interrupted the travel plans of others.”
The passenger was arrested by authorities at MEL and now faces serious consequences. According to an airline representative, the unnamed individual was also placed on a no-fly list maintained by Qantas and its subsidiaries, which includes Jetstar.
[Photo: iStock]
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Just because smoking once used to be allowed on planes doesn't mean it's safe now. The infrastructure (ash trays everywhere, for example) is gone. The inside of the modern plane is designed assuming there will never be any smoking. Most of the planes that were designed assuming there could be smoking are out of service or soon will be. Similarly, cabin crews today are trained to not tolerate smoking on board, rather than trained on how to safely tolerate smoking on board. The same mechanism that is used to light a cigarette can light an underwear bomb too. There is a safety aspect these days in assuming that nothing that starts a flame should ever need to be used on a plane any more, and that thus anything that starts a flame (even if used only for a cigarette) is a potential safety issue. Otherwise, a smart terrorist could start out by smoking on the plane, and then later in the flight use the same lighting mechanism for something more sinister, but people would just think he's lighting yet another cigarette by that point.
I find it very hard to believe that a Qantas/Jetstar pilot should have said such dumb thing.vHope this was just abysmal reporting. Also I wonder what he did that triggered a return to MEL ... can't be the excess booze or two cigarettes. It takes a lot more to intimidate an Aussie crew.
Landing and ejecting this idiot was the right thing to do. However, I don't think that they should have returned to MEL. Why not put down at ADL - or better yet some remote strip in the Australian outback - and left the wacko there to walk home? Shouldn't there be a requirement to discharge such passengers at the nearest suitable field? Seriously, though, being put on the no-fly list ought only be part of his penalty. He should get some time in jail - not long, maybe six months (assuming that his disruptive behavior didn't result in a physical assault against anyone on the plane, apart from the assault on innocent person's lungs), and then be made to repay the airline for its costs of diversion. If he has any assets, attach them, and garnish his wages until his debt to the airline is paid back in full. Smoking on flights has always been dangerous. That only in the past few decades we have grown the backbone to stand up to a behavior which clearly puts others at risk doesn't minimize that danger.
I think it only became a safety risk after it was banned for health reasons, which forced people to sneak a smoke in the lav and set paper towels on fire. As long as all the smoking was in the open there didn't seem to be much concern.
So why was smoking allowed for so many years on planes (before becoming socially unacceptable) if jet fuel is so volatile? Stupid reason -- the real reason to turn around was a disruptive passenger who wouldn't follow crew instructions, not his cigarette!