Don’t make light of bad behaviour

James Adams, the agent who represents Springbok Elton Jantjies, believes that his client’s arrest for alleged unruly behaviour on an Emirates flight from Dubai to Johannesburg was an incident which had “unnecessarily been heightened”. In apparently angling for Jantjies to be given a slap on the wrist for whatever he did, Adams said a light had been broken. That corroborated official documents which alleged the rugby player had smashed a TV screen on the flight.

Without wanting to comment on the guilt or innocence of Jantjies, we should point out to Adams that the behaviour of his client was sufficiently concerning for the Emirates aircrew that they radioed ahead to South Africa to have police awaiting to arrest him on his arrival.

That indicates that the airline was extremely concerned that he posed a risk to other passengers – and possibly the flight itself – and that he should be charged.

The reality is that damage to the sophisticated electronics systems of a plane, including the on-board entertainment facility, could be serious. Damaged wiring can cause electrical arcs which can cause fires… and these things have brought down aircraft.

Safety in aviation is critical and no one must be allowed to misbehave at 35 000 feet above sea level.