PUNCH - up in the air
By Veena Bharwani, The New Paper | Fri, Mar 12 2010


Unruly Aussie passenger on SIA flight hit repeatedly by air steward.

…… the video showed a crew member patiently talking to Dull in an attempt to calm him down, but Dull clearly refused and continued his rowdy behaviour.
A crew member then shouted at Dull and punched him, as others restrained him.
It is not clear if it was the same crew member who had tried to calm down Dull earlier.
Was it necessary to use such violence to restrain an unruly passenger?
An SIA spokesman declined to go into details on why such force was used, stating that it is its policy not to publicly divulge security measures and tactics in detail.
The spokesman would only say that it has launched an internal investigation on the employee in question.
“Flight crew are trained to recognise and deal with potential cases of passengers who exhibit unruly behaviour,” the spokesman said.
She added that some methods include politely declining to serve more alcohol to passengers if they have had too much to drink, and offering them “alternative beverage options”.
“In extreme cases where passengers turn physically violent, our crew are also trained in appropriate ways to handle them, which include certain self-defence tactics."
……… “SIA apologises to all affected customers on the flight and would like to thank those who kindly rendered their assistance.”

http://www.relax.com.sg/relax/news/3...n_the_air.html