Jail Time....
 

MIDLAND, Texas (AP) -- A New York man who raised a ruckus on a Continental Airlines jet in a failed attempt to get a free ticket has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison....

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/NY-man...-14138008.html

This really didn't work out as he had planned. 2 1/2 years..... woof!

DRW

Well...he DID get a free ticket out of it... :p :D

"He later told investigators that he created the disturbance to get free travel vouchers."


Sounds like this idiot went a little too far with his "distubance"..

There are ways (according to J.Ed) to achieve this without going to jail.

Copies of news stories about this guy will soon be in every gate agent & flight attendant's pocket. Hopefully, it teaches some people to quiet down.

I'm sure he went way overboard but 2 1/2 years is a long time. I wonder if the sentencing was influenced at all by the fact that he was a New Yorker in a Texas court..... just sayin' is all :)

If he truly took things far enough that his actions could be considered "interfering with a flight crew", then he deserves every single day he'll be in jail. I'm wondering if there was an air marshall on board who took him into custody before the landing and gave testimony leading to the conviction.

I'd be all for the FA getting to run him over with a cart. :D

From the news article:

"They say he acted upset and yelled obscentities at a flight attendant and other passengers."

That doesn't quite sound like behavior that merits 2-1/2 years in jail, does it?

It all depends on what he actually did and said. If his actions interfered with the safe operation of the flight, this is a violation of federal laws.

Plus the flight had to divert to another city, which it was a big inconvenience to the passengers not to mention the cost to Cal.:(

Again, I'd like to know exactly what happened. "Being upset" and "yelling obscenities" do not sound, in and of themselves, reason for a diversion, much less an arrest.

The article says he was up set and yelling. It doesn't say what he actually did and said. So, like I said before certain phrases and actions are seen (as per the federal government not necessarily by the airline )as interference with the safety of a flight.
If that is the case a person can face fines and prosecution, including jail time
He was arrested upon landing so whatever it was must have been pretty bad.

He was cursing at the frozen salad?:DSeriously,a newspaper snippet will not give you the full details you desire.

Perhaps. In this day and age, I will not accept an FA's judgment in this regard, nor will I necessarily believe that Texas law enforcement acted appropriately.

As noted, the article snippet is not sufficient information from which to make a determination.

Nor I would take a lawyer's. I guess we are even.

not enough info is known IMO

all too often a Passenger will go way over board, yet at the same time a member of the Flight Crew will do exactly the same and throw the Flag down with the "interference BS" when its not called for.

Unfortunately both sides get carried away way more then they should

I do some what agree that in some cases this happens.
However it is the authorities who make the final decision, and not always goes in favor of the airline.
That is why I think (IMO) He did and said a little more than the paper says.

True...but even when both parties have gotten carried away, it's extremely rare for a flight to divert for this reason - and even rarer still that the offending passenger is arrested (much less prosecuted, convicted, and sentanced to jail!) for his behavior. Not enough information was given in the article, but I will assume that whatever he did had to be pretty darn bad for all of that to happen. It seems pretty unlikely that the FAs, pilots, arresting officers, and judge/jury ALL overreacted to an unruly passenger.

I'm thinking for a diversion/arrest/conviction/sentencing to happen, the things the passenger was been yelling must have been considered something close to "terroristic threats". A conviction couldn't have happened just from FA testimony....I'm sure several other PAX were asked or made to testify.

Not exactly. My posts didn't contain TOS violations. Yours does and has been reported.

Exactly. For what it's worth, I've encountered over-the-top FA behavior far more than over-the-top PAX behavior. However, as you note, there is nowhere near enough information provided in the article to determine what happened.

How often do you travel? That is funny, for me is the opposite;)

This is kind of overboard. I've had drinks spilled on me before, and received a check back from Continental for the dry cleaning costs.

From a press release from the DOJ:

"United States Attorney Johnny Sutton and FBI Special Agent in Charge David Cuthbertson announced the filing of a federal criminal complaint in Midland, Texas, this afternoon charging 44-year-old Arthur David Proskin with interfering with a flight crew by assault or intimidation.
According to the complaint, Proskin was a passenger last night on Continental Airlines flight 2116 traveling from Houston, Texas, to Palm Springs, CA. During the flight, Proskin allegedly became irate and yelled obscenities at a flight attendant, and subsequently at other passengers, after he was struck in the knee by the attendants beverage service cart. Because of Proskin’s actions, response from other passengers, fear of an escalating situation that could turn physically violent and for the safety of all passengers on board the flight, the pilots diverted to Midland International Airport and made an unscheduled stop at approximately 8:00pm. Proskin was removed from the plane and eventually placed in federal custody. No one was physically injured during the incident."

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txw/press_...08/Proskin.pdf

Interestingly, he appears to have had an outstanding 3-year-old arrest warrant for a drug offense (intent to distribute a look-alike substantce) pending:

http://www.peoriacounty.org/sheriff....eNoI=06CF00652

I've been a frequent flier since the mid-80s. I've only once seen a passenger so belligerent that he was removed from the plane. On the other hand, I've been on the receiving end of threats from FAs several times, each time completely unwarranted. This isn't a slam against FAs -- the overwhelming majority of them that I encounter are, at minimum, professional and most are helpful and friendly. I have, however, had the misfortune of running into a couple who, evidently, went to FA school at the Napoleon Bonaparte Academy for Martinets. Fortunately for me, and unlike this would-be voucher scammer, I had no difficulty recognizing where the confrontation would end, and simply shut my mouth and took my seat. In each instance, other FAs came over to me afterwards to apologize and suggest I pursue the incident with customer service, which I did. In each instance I received what I felt was appropriate compensation.

Accordingly, and particularly after reading the DOJ summary of the complaint, I'm unwilling to credit either side without substantially more information.

Which of my post contain TOS violations?

Smarmy digs at my profession are irrelevant to this discussion and constitute personal attacks. I'm sure the mods will be happy to explain it to you.

Well I'm sure the Mods will want to talk to you first, since it was you who wrote First "I will not accept an FA's judgment in this regard,"

Well I'm a fa so you took the first shot.

That wasn't directed at you, but at the FAs on Proskin's flight. I didn't even realize you were an FA until just now. Or was I supposed to infer that you were from your screen name?

Will you two take it the .... outside?

OMG no you didn't

Really, children!

Some information from the actual court papers:
 

Sorry to be a distraction from the schoolyard fight between PTravel and Chicken or Beef, but here's some interesting information from the court filings. After reading all of this, I don't think that the average law-abiding Joe or Jane who makes a complaint to or who gets upset with a flight attendant is going to get 30 months like Proskin:

From the stipulated facts (when Proskin agreed to a plea):
"On April 24, 2008, Defendant PROSKIN was a passenger on Continental Airlines flight 2116, from Houston to Palm Springs, California. After PROSKIN perceived that a flight attendant had bumped his leg with a beverage cart while she pushed it in the aisle, PROSKIN commenced a diatribe in which he cursed vile obscenities at the flight attendant for several minutes. The flight attendant felt very intimitdated by his actions--so much so that she asked a male passenger whether he would come to her defense if PROSKIN's verbal aggression turned physical. Other passengers verbally assisted the flight attendant by attempting to quell PROSKIN's verbal assault, which prompted PROSKIN to engage in obsenity-laden invective with them as well. (One passenger heard PROSKIN state that he would "kill" one of these passengers when they landed in Palm Springs.). As a consequence of all this, the flight attendant reasonably believed that fistacuffs were about to break out on the plane. She talked to the captain, who immediately made the decision to land the plane at the nearest airport in Midland Texas, so that PROSKIN could be removed from the aircraft."

From the complaint:
"This affidavit is in support of a Federal Arrest Warrant for ARTHUR DAVID PROSKIN, of Albany, NY, for, while on an aircraft within the special jurisdiction of the United States, intimidated a flight crew member or [sic] flight atttendant of the aircraft, and interfered with the performance of the duties of the member or attendant and lessened the ability of the member or attendant to perform those duties in violation of Title 49 USC 46504."

...

"PROSKIN told investigators that he was in a fight onboard an aircraft with his girlfriend approximately 2 years ago. That flight, from New York to California, was diverted to land in Phoenix or Tuscon, Arizona and PROSKIN was removed from the flight."

...

"PROSKIN has a lengthy criminal history that includes arrests in several states for drug, theft, and assault violations. PROSKIN appears to have an outstanding warrant for Failure to Apepar in Peoria County, Illinois, and two active protective orders against him."

And finally, in the judgment, Proskin was ordered to pay $4642.40 to Continental.

I suppose some untrusting folks could assert that "just because its in affidavit signed by an FBI agent doesn't make it true," but I'm willing to accept the facts as stated since, defendant Proskin either 1) pled guilty or 2) was found guilty by a jury, which resulted in his sentence of incarceration. Given his lengthy criminal record and outstanding bench warrants, I don't think anyone should doubt that he is a flaming piece of turd who picked a flight with a female flight attendant while airborne. Case closed.

The flight number was 2116, so this was most likely an Express flight flown on an ERJ. Don't know that to be true, but if so......

I would imagine a lone flight attendant would feel a lot more vulnerable in this situation than a flight attendant with a few buddies acting as backup/witnesses. When the Captain asks "Are you comfortable?" the answer is probably directly influenced by the number of cavalry by your side at that moment.

DRW

One passenger heard it? Seriously? It sounds like it was something that someone "remembered" to justify the charge (the law), which requires that any interference be a result of "assaulting or intimidating" a member of the crew.

Not that I'm saying the guy doesn't deserve punishment.

Flight 2116 is currently a regional jet from IAH to COLORADO Springs. It doesn't look like CO currently services PSP, and even if they did at one point, it probably wouldn't be with a regional jet from Houston, right? Did they ever serve Palm Springs from IAH?

So it looks like the flight was not heading from IAH to PSP, but rather it was going to Colorado Springs. If this is true, I'm kind of amazed that this mistake is in the pleadings and court documents. Now, I think this guy probably deserved punishment. Especially if it was a regional jet, and there was only one FA. But it makes you wonder what other mistakes the prosecutors made in their filings.

EDIT: Looks like they used to fly IAH to PSP. So, it looks like this was probably not a mistake. I didn't realize Continental flew RJs from IAH to California. But I know they have some pretty long RJ flights, so I guess it isn't that surprising. Bit of a coincidence that the flight now goes to Colorado Springs. Anyway, the guy got what he deserved, bottom line.

Express used to serve Palm Springs (and Bakersfield, etc.) with ERJs from IAH. Flight numbers in the 2000's aren't generally flown by mainline (and certainly not the 757 or 767 -- I can't count that high!), so I'm inclined to think this was an Express flight from the 'old' days.

DRW

$4642.40 + airfare for what must have been ALB-EWR( or CLE)-IAH-PSP
Aprox 2938 miles one way....Mr. Proskin should read the mileage run forum.
this is not a good value per mile :p

Sorry folks if I gave you the wrong impression of a child like behavior.

Just to clear the air, I'm in no way against you folks (Frequent travelers) actually I appreciate your business.

I have been in this industry 22 years + Divided by 2 carriers, and in that time I have worked for in flight, operations, Training and I have worked with the fAA and many other agencies including law enforcement.

all I have to say is that there are bad fAs as well as good fAs, there are good passengers as well as bad ones. I don't have the data to support which one is worst.

However I know that most cal fAs are professional and happy to serve you. And that at the same time the majority of you, do appreciate what we do. Especially after flt 1404 and the Us airways incident.

I for one choose my battles when it comes to customer service, I will inform you of the rules and it's up you to follow them, I will not force them on you. It doesn't make me or break me if you follow them or not. I would never talk down to you nor have and over the top attitude with you. Like I said most of you are well behaved And I know that.

However having a law enforcement back ground (retired) I would not nor could I tolerate abusive behavior towards me or any of my crew members. And weather you like it or not, there are procedures established to deal with guys like the one in the article

For all of the nei Sayers in here, (to the ones that read a small article and are quick to make a judgment on what happened without all the facts, and you know who you are) All I have to say is believe what you believe and behave how you must, It is your time, waste it if you must. Just be careful and make sure that you don't end up like him.:D