Incidents involving disruptive airline passengers, including assaults on flight crews and dangerous in-flight panic attacks, still remain well above pre-pandemic standards, according to federal data.
With the year almost over, the Federal Aviation Administration is reporting 1,987 “unruly passenger” incidents for 2023, a 71 percent increase over the number of such incidents in 2019.
Still, this year's numbers are an improvement over the staggering record 5,973 reported incidents in 2021, when mask mandates and other pandemic-related issues caused tensions to boil over.
But industry experts say chaos from disruptive passengers remains unacceptably common, causing flight delays and endangering airline employees and customers.
'They are certainly significantly lower than the Covid peak, which is very good to see. But there are still events that are happening,” American Airlines Chief Operating Officer David Seymour told the newspaper. Wall Street Journal.
With the year almost over, the Federal Aviation Administration reports 1,987 “unruly passenger” incidents for 2023, a 71 percent increase over 2019 numbers
Experts cite a number of factors fueling the increased number of in-flight incidents, including drugs, the return of alcohol service after a pandemic moratorium of about two years, and mental health issues.
In October, an off-duty pilot sitting in the cockpit of an Alaska Airlines flight lunged at controls that would have shut down the engines before attempting to open an emergency exit when flight crew stopped him during an emergency landing.
The pilot, Joseph Emerson, said he had taken magic mushrooms and thought he was having a nervous breakdown. He has pleaded not guilty to 83 counts of recklessly endangering another person – one for each person on the plane.
In March, a passenger on a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston was filmed threatening to “kill every man on this plane.”
Prosecutors said the man tried to open an emergency exit door on the plane and then allegedly tried to stab a flight attendant in the neck with a broken spoon.
That passenger, Francisco Severo Torres, was arrested and charged with interference and attempted interference with flight crew members using a dangerous weapon, but his case has been stayed after a judge declared him mentally incompetent to stand trial.
In March, a passenger on a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston was filmed threatening to “kill every man on this plane”
In March, a passenger on a Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles to Seattle opened the plane's emergency exit as it taxied down the runway.
Also in March, a passenger on a Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles to Seattle opened the plane's emergency exit as it taxied down the runway, triggering the emergency slide.
According to news reports, the passenger was detained by Los Angeles Airport police and taken to a local hospital for a mental evaluation.
In another incident in March, a man was captured on video unprovoked attacking another passenger in front of his children during a Southwest Airlines flight.
During the violent confrontation, the man put another person in a headlock, while others on board had to intervene and shouted: “Don't hit him again.”
Last month, a woman on a Frontier Airlines flight from Houston to Denver was filmed having an epic meltdown as flight crew tried to restrain her.
The woman was seen crawling over the backs of seats, screaming, crying and thrashing as flight attendants tried to escort her off the plane. The identity of the woman and the full circumstances of the incident are unclear.
In August, another woman's shocking panic attack on a US flight from Dallas made headlines after she was filmed frantically demanding to be let off the plane and claiming another passenger was 'not real'.
“I'm telling you, I'm fucking leaving and there's a reason why I'm fucking leaving and everyone can believe it or not believe it,” the unidentified woman says. I heard her say as she walked to the front of the plane.
“I don't give a fuck, but I'm telling you right now, that m*****f***** back there is NOT real,” she adds, pointing to the back of the plane.
“And you can sit on this plane and die with them or not. I'm not going to do that.'
The TikTok user who filmed the incident said the woman “somehow didn't get arrested and made it back through security after the entire plane had to take off.”
A woman's meltdown was caught on video as she frantically demanded to get off a plane, claiming someone in the back of the plane wasn't real
In April, a flight from New Jersey to Tel Aviv was forced to turn back after a passenger (above) refused to get up from the flight attendant's seat while waiting in the restroom.
The monthly number of unruly passengers saw a record spike in March 2021, when widespread air travel resumed but mask mandates and other restrictions remained in place.
In April, a flight from New Jersey to Tel Aviv was forced to turn back after a passenger refused to get up from the flight attendant's seat while waiting in the restroom.
The plane took off from Newark after midnight at 12:48 a.m. in the early hours of Sunday and landed back there at 6:28 a.m., according to FlightAware data.
United said the “disruptive” passenger was escorted off the plane first, but all other passengers also had to disembark as the flight had to be rescheduled.
Video captured by a passenger shows the moment the unidentified man was escorted off the plane with his carry-on luggage to loud cheers from other passengers.
The airline said police encountered the plane and removed the passenger.
In May, an angry American Airlines passenger was caught on video pushing two travelers out of the way as he stepped off the plane.
Wearing a metallic gold Michael Kors jacket and sunglasses, the passenger caused major damage during the flight from Charlotte to Fort Lauderdale when he tried to squeeze down the aisle and disembark before other people.
The aspiring actor, who goes by the name Vosièy Fvogèswièr, can be heard on the video shouting, “I make the rules as I go.”
The gold-clad passenger then charges through and knocks two people aside, trying to get closer to the front of the plane.