Summary
- An unruly passenger on Alaska Airlines flight tried to stab fellow passengers with pens.
- Off-duty law enforcement officer prevented more serious situation during flight.
- Incident highlights increasing safety risks to flight attendants on Alaska Airlines.
The mix of pens and rubber bands became a weapon at altitude on an Alaska Airlines aircraft because the aircraft was on final to Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport. Nonetheless, a fast-thinking off-duty law enforcement officer prevented what might have been a worse situation.
Unruly passenger aboard Alaska Airlines Flight 604
Based on the grievance filed by United States Attorneys, Alaska Airlines had a comparatively peaceful Flight 604 that on January 24 left its Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) gate to Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) at 06:10. Based on Flightradar24, the aircraft was a Boeing 737-900(ER) in N467AS, as pictured below:
Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock
While N467AS was at altitude, the defendant, Julio Alvarez Lopez, traveling on a Mexican passport and allegedly wanting asylum, was found to indicate signs of tension like being fidgety, taking gloves on and off, and continually going into his backpack. Julio wouldn’t make eye contact together with his fellow seatmate.
As N467AS descended to LAS, Julio would stand up and sit down. Then Julio would stand up against and go into the restroom. After a stay within the restroom while near approaching LAS, potentially affecting how the aircraft flies resulting from changing weight and balance, Julio would emerge and stab a passenger with just a few pens, drawing blood. The injured victim’s wife was also struck throughout the attack.
Julio would then admit that he intended to kill by penetrating through the attention. Supposedly, Julio did this because he thought the passenger he stabbed was from a drug cartel and was following him.
When Julio attempted to proceed toward the cockpit, an alert law enforcement officer used his command voice to get Julio to take a seat down. Based on AP News, Julio was seated, the flight attendants flex-cuffed the unruly passenger, and N467AS landed safely at LAS.
Alaska Airlines’ policy
Alaska Airlines, referred to as an airline with a passenger-first culture, has a contract of carriage policy that states as of February 24 and was last revised December 15, 2023, that Alaska Airlines may refuse to move for the next misconduct,
“Passengers whose conduct is or has been known to be disorderly, abusive, offensive, threatening, intimidating, violent, belligerent and/or irrational in order to be a hazard or potential hazard to Alaska employees, other Passenger(s), and/or him/herself (including verbal harassment related to race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, age, ethnicity or sexual orientation).”
So it is probably going that Alaska Airlines has banned the unruly passenger from future flights.
Increasing safety risks to Alaska Airlines flight attendants
This incident shows the increasing safety risks to Alaska Airlines flight attendants. Additional challenges include dangerous older-style B/E Aerospace coffee makers that the flight attendant union – AFA Alaska – will file a grievance with the airline and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in keeping with a February 20 AFA Alaska blog post. The coffee machines have injured at the very least nine cabin crew.
Moreover, in keeping with the FAA, as of February 18, 254 cases of unruly passengers were reported to the FAA to this point this yr. The speed has stayed regular at 2.4 unruly passengers per 100,000 flights. Per the FAA graphic below, unruly passengers can face a $37,000 fantastic.
Graphic: Federal Aviation Administraiton
As this outlet continues to remind our readers, flight attendants aren’t just waiters but aviation’s first responders. You possibly can get a flavor of what flight attendants are chargeable for below:
![A Qantas Boeing 787 Dreamliner above the clouds.](https://static1.simpleflyingimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/6903_qantas_787_dreamliner_monkeys02_extremelandscape_633x167-5_ooh_cmyk-1200x1186-1.jpg)
5 Cabin Safety Rules Passengers Should Know And Why
5 cabin safety rules help illustrate the importance of flight attendants.
Finally, it’s price noting that the Alaska Airlines flight attendants voted overwhelmingly to hunt release to strike on February 13 for, amongst other reasons, pay and workplace conditions, complete with signs stating, Easy Flying will keep readers apprised of the progress of negotiations.
Bottom line
As a result of his actions, Julio will probably be spending a protracted time in confinement and trial throughout the US federal judicial system alongside a probable fantastic plus a lifetime ban from flying Alaska Airlines.
What are your takeaways? Please share within the comment section.