Ban booze on planes as air rage levels soar
IT’S an incident that still sends shivers down my spine whenever I think about it.
I was enjoying a glass of bubbly when, all of a sudden, all hell broke loose.
This burly drunk beside me, who had the look of a boxer or rugby player with his cauliflower ears and broken nose, went ballistic after being refused another drink.
Usually when drinks go flying in the air, you can simply vacate the premises or call security to turf out the culprit.
But on this occasion we didn’t have either option – because we were 33,000ft up in the air.
As I discovered, there are no bouncers on planes and it was down to us passengers to stop this drunken maniac hell-bent on breaking into the cockpit and endangering everybody onboard.
I was just reminded of this terrifying experience after an Irish citizen residing in England – ironically a human rights lawyer – pleaded guilty last week to an air rage incident last November.
During a long-haul flight from Mumbai to Heathrow, Simone Burns, known as Simone O’broin, drank three small bottles of wine – with breakfast!
She then hurled racial abuse and spat at a flight attendant when refused a fourth bottle.
Frighteningly, it happens more than you realise.
Arrests at UK airports or flights jumped by 50% within a 12-month period from February 2016 to February 2017 – with 387 detained for bawdy behaviour, according to the BBC.
At least in America there’s a good chance a Federal Air Marshal might be on your flight to take control of such dangerous scenarios.
I’m not advocating we stick plain-clothes gardai in the sky – but I believe it’s time to call last orders on serving booze on planes.
Surprisingly enough, even good old Ryanair recommended there should be a pre-10am alcohol ban.
It even said there should be a “two-drink limit per passenger” at the airport bars.
Ryanair made the suggestions after a group of drunken Irish holidaymakers forced an Ibiza-bound flight from Dublin to be diverted to Paris last June.
Why should the responsibility only fall on the shoulders of airports?
It would be too difficult to police how many drinks someone consumes there because they can hop from bar to bar.
While those getting connecting flights can easily get half-sloshed on the first leg of their journey.
And a passenger on a flight washing down Valium with even a single beer can result in irrational behaviour and blackouts.
Perhaps Ryanair should practise what it preaches and implement this two-drink limit on their own flights? After all, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
But I wouldn’t hold my breath. Low-cost airlines make huge profits from happily plying us with booze at marked-up pricing.
Yet, ironically, it is a criminal offence to be drunk on a plane.
We all know it’s a bad idea to booze on an empty stomach, but did you know you get pissed easier on a flight because of cabin pressure?
Airplanes keep it about 4% less than normal pressure at sea level, which slightly lowers oxygen intake and makes you intoxicated quicker.
In other words, it’s ill-advised to knock back booze in the air.
So why is it so hard for the airline industry to swallow the fact that a total alcohol ban is needed if they truly want to put safety first?
As we do now with cigarettes, we’ll look back one day and wonder how boozing was ever permitted on flights.
The party’s over. It’s time to call last orders on drinking in mid-air – before a serious tragedy occurs.
I believe it’s time to call last orders on serving alcohol on airplanes Airlines make huge profits from plying us with booze at marked-up pricing