The problem of inadequate behaviour of passengers aboard plane has become a real threat to air flights safety in Russia. Due to this the Russian Transport Service has decided to create black lists of passengers spotted to drink excessive dozes of alcohol aboard. It is unlikely to matter where inappropriate behaviour takes place: at the airport or ten thousand metres above the earth. Surnames of passengers-violators will be published at the official website of the Transport Service of Russia.

For getting in a black list it is enough to suffer from flights phobia or alcoholism – everything that may make a person drink an excessive portion of alcohol before a flight. After consuming alcohol one has to kick up a row, to threaten passengers, stewards, and pilots, and then to fall asleep. It is most likely that after arriving to the destination such passenger is to be met by the police that will also draw up a protocol. Later all data on the passenger will be added to the black list and will become available to airlines.

It is not quite clear whether getting in such list will mean a total ban on flights for a passenger or the decision will be up to air companies. Several Russian airlines, in particular – according to some media, Aeroflot and Transaero already have similar black lists of passengers prohibited to fly with these air companies.

Some air companies are sure that Russia must accept the toughest alcohol restrictions. Thus, the airline Transaero suggests that even alcohol bought in duty-free shops must be banned from being taken aboard plane. According to the head of Russian Aviation Eugeny Bachurin, the organization is going to estimate the statistics of safety regulations` violation by drunken passengers and later to initiate a lawful introduction of a total ban on drinking alcohol on planes. The world’s experience shows that limitations or restrictions concerning alcohol drinking aboard are linked not only with air safety but also with the harm alcohol may do in high altitudes. There have been known some cases when drunken passengers tried to burst into the crew’s cabin or to open the emergency escape hatch.

It is needed to mark that safety violations in air transport committed by drunken Russian passengers take place quite often. For instance, in February 2006 a plane of the air company Transaero was supposed to carry out a flight Moscow-Bangkok. However, the flight was delayed for more than 10 hours due to a group of six drunken passengers who put up a fight.

In 2006 a plane belonging to the air company Aeroflot and carrying out a flight Moscow-Geneva had to make a compulsory landing in Prague because of a drunken passenger who insisted that the pilot must change the route and threatened to explode the plane.

The most recent example of inadequate behaviour of a drunken passenger took place in the Russian city of Byisk in mid August. The drunken man was told to take his belt off in order to pass through the metal detector at the airport. Instead, the man shouted: “Maybe I should take everything off!!??” and got naked in front of the other people’s eyes.

Read more about Russian Airlines...

Sources:
    www.wek.ru
    webplanet.ru

Lavrentyeva Natalya