Passenger showing ‘indications of intoxication’ restrained on JetBlue flight
By Marnie Hunter and Gregory Wallace, CNN
(CNN) — A passenger on a Tuesday JetBlue flight was restrained with help from other passengers after acting “erratically and aggressively toward his travel companion and members of the inflight crew,” according to a statement from the airline.
The incident occurred on flight 1926 from London to New York.
Flight crew “discovered an opened bottle of liquor the customer had brought on board and indications of intoxication,” JetBlue said. “For everyone’s safety, the customer was restrained with the assistance of other customers who were witnessing this threatening behavior.”
Video posted online shows several people struggling to restrain a male passenger.
The flight was met by law enforcement at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, the airline said.
New York’s Port Authority confirmed it received “a report of a disturbance” onboard the Tuesday flight. “The plane landed safely with no further incident or reported injuries and no arrest was made by Port Authority police,” according to a Port Authority spokesperson.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it would investigate.
Consequences for being disorderly on flights
Unruly passenger behavior can result in stiff penalties.
Fines of up to $37,000 per violation are part of the FAA’s crackdown on unruly passenger behavior, which reached a record level in 2021. One incident might result in multiple fines.
Incidents involving alcohol have cost some passengers thousands of dollars.
In 2021, the FAA announced fines totaling nearly $162,000 against eight passengers for alleged unruly behavior involving alcohol.
It’s against federal law to consume alcohol onboard a flight that is not served by a flight attendant.
Some of the most serious unruly passenger incidents are referred to the FBI for criminal prosecution review and can result in jail time.
Unruly passenger incidents were down 15% last year from the previous year, according to the FAA.
The FAA said it received at least 129 reports of unruly passengers in January.
CNN’s Artemis Moshtaghian contributed to this report.
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