What Happens When A Law Is Broken On A Plane

It is a well-established fact that laws can be broken while a plane is in the air and a range of illegal actions such as racist behavior, violent behavior, or sexual assault can occur once the flight has begun. While these types of actions may of course be less prevalent in the air than they are on land, they can nonetheless occur and can escalate to a serious level. Here is what happens when a law is broken on a plane and the airline staff must move in to deal with the situation.

Prevention Is Better Than Management

A key aim of the airline staff is to prevent incidents that can compromise the safety of the passengers. Safety in itself has a very broad application from physical to emotional safety. Usually at the time of boarding the staff are trained to recognize certain types of behaviors such as being too loud, drunk, abusive, or intoxicated.

They may call aside such individuals or information security even before they board the plane. However many individuals may not behave oddly at this stage of getting on a plane anyway making them a threat that materializes later.

Once the plane is in the air the prevention part can be deemed as effectively over as airport police can no longer intervene in matters unless the plane lands at its destination or reroutes to an earlier airport in extreme security threats such as if someone is wielding a weapon. However, the flight attendants are briefed on how to diffuse and lessen the intensity of matters by scanning the passengers periodically to detect signs of a situation before it occurs. Minor issues like whether can you bring edibles on a plane depending on the airline will not usually be dealt with harshly.

The Role Of Cabin Crew

If the situation has escalated the cabin crew will try to contain the passenger/s as well as they can, recruiting the help of a non-working crew that is on board. Typically for most flights, there will be an air marshal who will be positioned as a regular passenger but who is ever watchful for any discrepant occurrences.

For any Orlando criminal defense attorney taking up the case of a perpetrator or the airline, the actions taken to reduce the consequences of the action will be very important in court hearings. Article 10 of the Tokyo Convention clearly states that airline crew can take any ‘reasonable preventative measures’ they deem appropriate if they fear a breach in the safety of the passengers or the aircraft.

In Case Of Escalation

If the situation escalates out of control such as in the case of firearms, terrorism threats, or even physical violence, the pilot will be informed who serves as commander-in-chief as soon as the plane sets off. He/she will decide if the passenger is to be restrained and put away in a smaller room until the landing or whether or not the plane should be rerouted. Air traffic control on the ground will be notified by the pilot about the situation aboard the plane so they can make arrests upon the plane’s landing.