An elderly Australian woman has been charged after reportedly biting a flight attendant during an argument on a flight. The passenger is one of dozens of Australians facing criminal charges for disorderly behavior during the country's Christmas and school holiday period.
Elderly woman charged for biting
The elderly woman is said to have struck another passenger in the face on a January 29th flight from New Zealand to the Gold Coast before a member of the cabin crew intervened. At this stage, the 78-year-old allegedly bit the flight attendant on the arm and has now been ordered to appear in court on April 3rd.
The incident is just one of many disturbances seen onboard Australian flights over the past six weeks. Other incidents include a 41-year-old man consuming so much duty-free whiskey that he lost consciousness before becoming verbally abusive to cabin crew - the unruly passenger would later be hospitalized due to alcohol consumption.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) launched 'Operation Sleigh' on December 20th to keep the peace during Australia's peak travel period, which involved increased police patrols at AFP-protected airports - the force can draw upon around 500 members within its Airport Uniform Police, Protection Operations Response Teams and Counterterrorism First Response team, along with 49 explosive-detection canines and 25 dogs capable of detecting cash, drugs, firearms and devices.
An unruly summer
Between December 20th and January 29th, Australian authorities charged 49 passengers with a total of 69 criminal offences across nine of the country's busiest airports. The charges include assault, drug possession and weapon offences, while a further 24 people were handed 'infringement notices' for minor offences such as public intoxication, disorderly behavior and failing to comply with directions from airline staff.
AFP Commander Geoff Turner commented,
"In recent months we have seen thousands more passengers traveling through airports across Australia, as state and international borders reopened after the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions. The AFP was more than prepared to manage the expected spike in passenger numbers, with increased patrols resulting in teams responding to a range of incidents to assist the traveling public across the country."
The busy Christmas and New Year period is known colloquially in Australia as the 'silly season' - during the same period over 2021-2022, Australian authorities charged 28 people with 49 offences on top of a further 16 people handed infringement notices.
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Hundreds charged in 2022
Prior to the busy Christmas travel season, the AFP was already dealing with a spate of disturbances onboard aircraft and across the country's airports - between April 2022 and October 2022, authorities charged over 330 people with approximately 420 charges, including intoxication, carrying prohibited weapons/items and assault, representing around 13 people charged every week.
AFP Assistant Commissioner Specialist Protective Command Scott Lee said,
"Some behaviour on flights in recent months has been appalling and in some cases, dangerous. Airports are not nightclubs. Intoxicated individuals on flights or in the terminal can be charged, and those who are convicted of an act of violence at an airport or endangering the safety of an aircraft in flight can be sentenced to up to 20 years’ imprisonment."
Over the course of 2022, the AFP added that it had responded to almost 20,000 incidents across the nine airports in its jurisdiction and charged around 360 people with 520 offences.
Did you fly within Australia over the past six weeks? How did you find the travel experience? Let us know your stories in the comment section.