Mass brawls, drunken threats and passengers stripping off: ‘Air rage’ incidents surge in the UK
Mass brawls, sexual assaults, physical violence, drunken threats, verbal abuse, passengers stripping off: all examples of the kind of disruptive behaviour experienced by cabin crew in recent years.
New figures exclusively shared with Sky News show 1,028 cases were reported by UK airlines in 2022 – nearly triple the number reported in 2019. Next week, in a bid to reduce those numbers, MPs will be considering a new law that could see offenders banned from all British carriers.
Many incidents of so-called “air rage” have been documented by shocked fellow travellers on social media.
Seven people needed to subdue one man. Pic: Deadline News
One example from August last year shows seven people having to restrain a heavily intoxicated man filmed shouting and swearing at fellow passengers on a flight from Luton to Lithuania.
In another, last May, footage from a plane which had just landed in Crete from Gatwick shows passengers gasping in horror as a drunken fight broke out in the aisle – and one of the pilots was seemingly punched trying to break up the melee.
One man was pictured stripping to his boxers. Pic: SWNS
During a flight from Manchester to Turkey in July 2022, a man was filmed stripping down to his underwear and drunkenly shouting “people are scared of me, I wonder why”.
In 2019, two RAF jets were even scrambled to escort a plane back to Stansted after a woman assaulted cabin crew, threatened fellow passengers and attempted to open the aircraft door mid-flight.
Fighter jets were used to escort a plane to Stansted in 2019
Cabin crew are trained to deal with these cases – but they can take a heavy toll.
“You’re up there at 38,000ft with 300 passengers and 16 crew, and you have to manage and deal with the situation on your own,” one former air steward said. “It can leave a very long-lasting impact. We’re all human at the end of the day.”
Ben (not his real name) recently left his job after 20 years working as cabin crew.
He is speaking to us on condition of anonymity because industry contracts typically restrict staff from speaking to the media.
Ben had to restrain drunken, aggressive passengers in handcuffs on two separate occasions. The first involved a man who sexually assaulted a woman – and then attempted to hide in a galley freezer cabinet.
“The passenger was intoxicated and had taken some sort of medication about three hours into the flight,” Ben said. “He was increasingly erratic. We tried to calm him down but the situation became aggressive and uncontrollable.
“A decision that we don’t take lightly was made to restrain him. We had to physically grab his arms and put the cuffs on. He was being very vocal, shouting and swearing, which was very offensive.”
Ben has since left the industry
One of Ben’s colleagues later received counselling due to the distress caused by the incident.
On another flight, this time to Nigeria, passengers complained about a man who had been drinking excessively.
“He was very, very drunk. We later found out he had been drinking from his own bottle as well. We were able to cuff him, but he was moving around a lot, swearing, kicking and stamping in his seat.”
Ben believes more should be done to protect passengers and crew from these incidents.
“I’d like to see the law tightened, and possibly a national register shared amongst all the airlines, so they can be made aware of what a passenger has done before. People just think they can get away with it. They cause so much stress and heartache.”
UK airlines have a mandatory duty to report cases involving intoxicated, violent or unruly passengers to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for safety reasons.
In 2019, 373 incidents were reported, a figure consistent with the numbers over the previous few years. But while those obviously fell during COVID, last year there were 1,028 cases – triple the pre-pandemic figure.
It’s thought the increase is largely down to better reporting from one specific airline, and the impact of mask requirements.
Gareth Johnson, the MP for Dartford
But the Conservative MP for Dartford, Gareth Johnson, believes the law needs to change to deal with the increasing numbers. He’s introducing a 10 Minute Rule Bill on the issue on 24 May.
“This bill aims to ensure that violent people who cause mayhem on aeroplanes are actually banned from flying for a specific period of time by a court,” Mr Johnson said.
“The difficulty that we have currently is that someone can be violent on a particular operator’s aeroplane and then that operator cannot pass that information on to another operator. So that person can just go and fly with a different operator.
“At the moment violence is very rare, but if you introduce this legislation, this will make it even less likely to happen. It is right that people can be banned from driving, they can be banned from being a company director and they can be banned from football matches. The same should apply for people who behave violently on planes. This power exists in other countries and should be available here too.”
In 2018, the government considered plans to restrict the sale of alcohol at UK airports in a bid to crack down on the problem. They concluded the resulting consultation did not generate enough evidence that doing so would be a “proportionate way to address the issue of drunk and disruptive passenger behaviour … but we do think that other action is needed”.
The government considered banning alcohol in airports. Pic: iStock
Currently, drunken passengers can face fines of up to £5,000 and two years’ imprisonment. Airlines can also attempt to recoup some of the costs of diverting a plane to a different airport, typically ranging from £10,000 to £80,000.
But that is often impossible. Paul Charles, a former director at Virgin Atlantic, said the problem is hugely expensive for airlines.
“The costs run into millions across the airline industry from disruptive passengers. They’re facing potentially higher fuel bills by having to divert an aircraft to a different airport. They’re facing the costs potentially of paying out all passengers on board because of a delay. That’s longer than three hours to that particular flight and its arrival time.
“It also creates a knock-on impact for the rest of the day’s schedule for an airline. So let’s say there’s disruption in the morning which leads to a flight delay of three or four hours, potentially. That then knocks on to other flights where that aircraft should be flying.
“And of course, that then affects thousands of other passengers who are relying on that aircraft to be on time. The costs are widespread because they’re not just about the costs on board an aircraft where that passenger is being disruptive, but other aircraft and airports too.”
A spokesperson from the Department for Transport said: “All passengers and crew have the right to feel safe when travelling by air. There is already robust legislation and powers to deal with disruptive passengers, including bans, fines and removal from flights.”
Anna Bowles, head of consumer at the CAA, added: “Passengers who are rude or aggressive can be highly disruptive and distressing for cabin crew and fellow travellers. This type of behaviour is completely unacceptable and can pose a risk to aircraft safety.
“The aviation industry undertakes a range of measures to tackle this issue and passengers could face criminal charges with severe penalties, even prison, for incidents involving aggressive behaviour.”
The dates for Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK have been announced, with the US president due to be welcomed by the King from 17 to 19 September.
Buckingham Palace also confirmed that President Trump and first lady Melania will be hosted by the King and Queen at Windsor Castle.
It was expected that the three-day state visit would take place in September after Mr Trump let slip earlier in April that he believed that was when his second “fest” was being planned for.
Windsor was also anticipated to be the location after the US president told reporters in the Oval Office that the letter from the King said Windsor would be the setting. Refurbishment works at Buckingham Palace also meant that Windsor was used last week for French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit.
This will be Mr Trump’s second state visit to the UK, an unprecedented gesture towards an American leader, having previously been invited to Buckingham Palace in 2019.
Donald Trump and Melania Trump posing with Charles and Camilla in 2019. Pic: Reuters
He has also been to Windsor Castle before, in 2018, but despite the considerable military pageantry of the day, and some confusion around inspecting the guard, it was simply for tea with Queen Elizabeth II.
Further details of what will happen during the three-day visit in September will be announced in due course.
On Friday, Sky News revealed it is now unlikely that the US president will address parliament, usually an honour given to visiting heads of state as part of their visit. Some MPs had raised significant concerns about him being given the privilege.
But the House of Commons will not be sitting at the time of Mr Trump’s visit as it will rise for party conference season on the 16 September, meaning the president will not be able to speak in parliament as President Macron did during his state visit this week. However, the House of Lords will be sitting.
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Labour MP: ‘Trump isn’t welcome here’
In February this year, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer presented the US president with the letter from the King inviting him to visit during a meeting at the White House.
After reading it, Mr Trump said it was a “great, great honour”, adding “and that says at Windsor – that’s really something”.
In February, Sir Keir Starmer revealed a letter from the King inviting Donald Trump to the UK. Pic: Reuters
In the letter, the King suggested they might meet at Balmoral or Dumfries House in Scotland first before the much grander state visit. However, it is understood that, although all options were explored, complexities in both the King and Mr Trump’s diaries meant it wasn’t possible.
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This week, it emerged that Police Scotland are planning for a summer visit from the US president, which is likely to see him visit one or both of his golf clubs in Aberdeenshire and Ayrshire, and require substantial policing resources and probably units to be called in from elsewhere in the UK.
Precedent for second-term US presidents, who have already made a state visit, is usually tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle, as was the case for George W Bush and Barack Obama.
A small plane has crashed at Southend Airport in Essex.
Essex Police said it was at the scene of a “serious incident”.
Images posted online showed huge flames and a large cloud of black smoke, with one witness saying they saw a “fireball”.
A police statement said: “We were alerted shortly before 4pm to reports of a collision involving one 12-metre plane.
“We are working with all emergency services at the scene now and that work will be ongoing for several hours.
“We would please ask the public to avoid this area where possible while this work continues.”
A huge fireball near the airport. Pic: Ben G
It has been reported that the plane involved in the incident is a Beech B200 Super King Air.
According to flight-tracking service Flightradar, it took off at 3.48pm and was bound for Lelystad, a city in the Netherlands.
One man, who was at Southend Airport with his family around the time of the incident, said the aircraft “crashed headfirst into the ground”.
John Johnson said: “About three or four seconds after taking off, it started to bank heavily to its left, and then within a few seconds of that happening, it more or less inverted and crashed.
“There was a big fireball. Obviously, everybody was in shock in terms of witnessing it. All the kids saw it and the families saw it.”
Mr Johnson added that he phoned 999 to report the crash.
Southend Airport said the incident involved “a general aviation aircraft”.
Four flights scheduled to take off from Southend this afternoon were cancelled, according to its website.
Flightradar data shows two planes that had been due to land at Southend were diverted to nearby airports London Gatwick and London Stansted.
Plumes of black smoke. Pic: UKNIP
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said four crews, along with off-road vehicles, have attended the scene.
Four ambulances and four hazardous area response team vehicles are also at the airport, as well as an air ambulance, the East of England Ambulance Service said.
Its statement described the incident as “still developing”.
Fire engines at the airport
David Burton-Sampson, the MP for Southend West and Leigh, posted on social media: “I am aware of an incident at Southend Airport. Please keep away and allow the emergency services to do their work.
“My thoughts are with everyone involved.”
Local councillor Matt Dent said on X: “At present all I know is that a small plane has crashed at the airport. My thoughts are with all those involved, and with the emergency services currently responding to the incident.”
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UK
Heidi Alexander says ‘fairness’ will be government’s ‘guiding principle’ when it comes to taxes at next budget
Another hint that tax rises are coming in this autumn’s budget has been given by a senior minister.
Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander was asked if Sir Keir Starmer and the rest of the cabinet had discussed hiking taxes in the wake of the government’s failed welfare reforms, which were shot down by their own MPs.
Trevor Phillips asked specifically if tax rises were discussed among the cabinet last week – including on an away day on Friday.
Politics Hub: Catch up on the latest
Tax increases were not discussed “directly”, Ms Alexander said, but ministers were “cognisant” of the challenges facing them.
Asked what this means, Ms Alexander added: “I think your viewers would be surprised if we didn’t recognise that at the budget, the chancellor will need to look at the OBR forecast that is given to her and will make decisions in line with the fiscal rules that she has set out.
“We made a commitment in our manifesto not to be putting up taxes on people on modest incomes, working people. We have stuck to that.”
Ms Alexander said she wouldn’t comment directly on taxes and the budget at this point, adding: “So, the chancellor will set her budget. I’m not going to sit in a TV studio today and speculate on what the contents of that budget might be.
“When it comes to taxation, fairness is going to be our guiding principle.”
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Afterwards, shadow home secretary Chris Philp told Phillips: “That sounds to me like a barely disguised reference to tax rises coming in the autumn.”
He then went on to repeat the Conservative attack lines that Labour are “crashing the economy”.
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Chris Philp also criticsed the government’s migration deal with France
Mr Philp then attacked the prime minister as “weak” for being unable to get his welfare reforms through the Commons.
Discussions about potential tax rises have come to the fore after the government had to gut its welfare reforms.
Sir Keir had wanted to change Personal Independence Payments (PIP), but a large Labour rebellion forced him to axe the changes.
With the savings from these proposed changes – around £5bn – already worked into the government’s sums, they will now need to find the money somewhere else.
The general belief is that this will take the form of tax rises, rather than spending cuts, with more money needed for military spending commitments, as well as other areas of priority for the government, such as the NHS.
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