Jetstar Perth taser incident

[Saab34]

Pretty full on video. I am fairly certain the Aviation regs say you must comply with crew instructions. Not negotiate with crew the instructions. I had this on a Jetstar flight recently when two passengers refused to take new allocated seats due to aircraft downgrade. I am fairly sure regs also exist for remaining in allocated seat for takeoff and landing.

Bolic Bet Malou: Video emerges of confrontation on Jetstar flight before passenger Tasered | Exclusive

 

[Guvner]

One less cough in Melbourne is a good outcome.

 

[Franky]

One less cough in Melbourne is a good outcome.

You can have him back, we have more than enough here thanks…

 

[kyle]

The Age quoted the eyewitness as saying he wasn't aggressive though. So who's lying?

‘I felt like an animal’: Father humiliated after being dragged from Jetstar flight

Bolic Bet Malou was Tasered by police on a Jetstar flight out of Perth at the weekend in a commotion over his seating.

www.theage.com.au

 

[Rabs97]

The Age quoted the eyewitness as saying he wasn't aggressive though. So who's lying?

‘I felt like an animal’: Father humiliated after being dragged from Jetstar flight

Bolic Bet Malou was Tasered by police on a Jetstar flight out of Perth at the weekend in a commotion over his seating.

www.theage.com.au

Doesn’t matter if he wasn’t aggressive initially. The cabin crew make a lawful order, he must obey it. If he doesn’t then police are going to come. If he resists then he become aggressive, and they can use whatever means they think they need to to escort him out.

 

[Brissy1]

Mmm, was the other swapping passenger asked to move back to sitting next to a middle passenger with a 1yo on lap, for a 3½ hour flight?
Regardless, I think the fa demand was petty and officious. I don't think Jetstar is blameless.

 

[justinbrett]

I think the fa demand was petty and officious. I don't think Jetstar is blameless.

Not the point. It's their aircraft, you have to play by their rules.

 

[dajop]

Mmm, was the other swapping passenger asked to move back to sitting next to a middle passenger with a 1yo on lap, for a 3½ hour flight?
Regardless, I think the fa demand was petty and officious. I don't think Jetstar is blameless.

It's called enforcing the integrity of the business model. If people have to pay for seats then people have to pay for seats, if not tough ... Having said that, have seen plenty of seat swaps but always to better to do so at altitude once seat belts are off, once the crew are busy doing other things.

 

[justinbrett]

Even if he was in the right, at the point the AFP is tasering you in full view of the rest of the cabin, he obviously stopped being in the right at some point before that.

Even old mate on that United flight a few years back didn't get tasered. AFP wouldn't do doing that lightly with all of those witnesses.

 

[openseat]

This looks very suspicious to me. I've seen people swap on Jetstar before without any issues from the FAs.
I've also seen Jetstar FAs ignore drunks sitting at exit rows.
In these cases the people were white.

 

[justinbrett]

This looks very suspicious to me. I've seen people swap on Jetstar before without any issues from the FAs.
I've also seen Jetstar FAs ignore drunks sitting at exit rows.
In these cases the people were white.

I've seen plenty of white bogans get taken off Jetsar aicraft by AFP.

Almost par for the course.

 

[SeaWolf]

I am fairly sure regs also exist for remaining in allocated seat for takeoff and landing.

Not sure if there's some specific Australian reg about it, but it's certainly not a requirement in the USA, where some of the airlines (Southwest) don't even assign seats at all. Easyjet in the EU didn't used to assign seats either but changed in 2012 due to customer pressure (and presumably the revenue for charging extra for seat selection), but not due to regulatory requirements.

 

[Saab34]

was trying to find it, but also fairly sure a reg exists for adhering to crew instructions regardless if you agree.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

A man travelling with his wife and newborn child from Melbourne to Perth was tasered by AFP after sitting next to his family:

'I felt like an animal': Tasered man aboard Jetstar flight speaks out

www.9news.com.au

Now I completely understand that JQ is a no frills airline where seating and everything else is extra. I also understand that one person's poor planning doesn't make it someone else's emergency either. However, one would argue that there is arguably a better way to handle things in a country as civilized as Australia (but perhaps I'm mistaken here). Interestingly this story is so bad that even pilots and crew are discussing the matter on Pprune and other such forums.

What are your thoughts?

-RooFlyer88

 

[kangarooflyer88]

One key issue not discussed in the articles is what does Australian consumer and aviation law have to say about children travelling with parents? Is there a requirement that they must be seated by them or could they be randomly assigned to sit anywhere on the plane including beside some weirdo? In other countries like the US there is a movement towards ensuring that families must be seated together.

-RooFlyer88

 

[Ade]

was trying to find it, but also fairly sure a reg exists for adhering to crew instructions regardless if you agree.

From what I understand, in the cabin, whatever the crew say goes and in the whole aircraft, whatever the captain say goes.

I've seen plenty of white bogans get taken off Jetsar aicraft by AFP.

Reminds of an incident reported in AFF about some drunk bikies (?) being escorted by AFP on arrival.

he obviously stopped being in the right at some point before that.

I think the refusal to compliance to what AFP said could have triggered it. Non-compliance is not something taken lightly. However, that being said, given I was not in the scene I can't say if unnecessary force was required and hence used or otherwise.

From what I understand, law enforcement usually talk to all affected parties in such situations. The pax obviously have got a partner and baby in tow. For instance, in such a situation, I'd have assumed law enforcement could have persuaded the lady to reason with the crew or something like that. This works sometimes. I have seen this work sometimes. Not sure why such measures were not employed (or they were and were unsuccessful, will never know). Also, in interest of time (a plane load of people waiting to take off), AFP might have thought it was better to use force to remove the pax from the plane.

In the video, the lady can be heard saying "don't do that, I'm pregnant". Again, this would have definitely come up (or it did and didn't go anywhere) if there was a, for the lack of a better word, reasonable-negotiation with other member of the party ...

 

[Ade]

Having said that, have seen plenty of seat swaps but always to better to do so at altitude once seat belts are off, once the crew are busy doing other things.

Very common ... people move around the cabin all the time and do not return to their original seats as shown on their boarding passes during descent. This might not have been an issue if the swap happened after take off and seat belt sign switched off.

 

[Princess Fiona]

One key issue not discussed in the articles is what does Australian consumer and aviation law have to say about children travelling with parents? Is there a requirement that they must be seated by them or could they be randomly assigned to sit anywhere on the plane including beside some weirdo? In other countries like the US there is a movement towards ensuring that families must be seated together.

-RooFlyer88

The baby was sitting with a parent. Appears to be the child’s mother.

 

[Ade]

I think the fa demand was petty and officious

IMHO, it doesn't matter if the FA demand was petty ... Just accept it and move on, until the seat belt sign is switched off. As the crew get busy with their routine, the probably won't notice (I'm sure they are trained to notice, but won't give 2 cents about it, in most cases)

Another point to note is what is not mentioned (or I did not read properly) in the news article is if any of the seats were emergency or extra leg room seats. If it was an extra leg room seat, the FA might have taken it upon themselves to enforce no-swap due to the $ paid for the seat, which IMO is not the job of the FA, unless of course some $ paid pax complains about it.

In any case, for the sake of the pax and others, please obey what the FA says. Once things are settled, move around the cabin if needed.

 

[justinbrett]

It's not about the seat swap. Whatever the reason, refusing a direction from a FA will get you into trouble.

Then refusing a direction from the AFP will get you into serious trouble.

We didn't see the exchanges on the video that happened in between. It's not like the AFP boarded and went straight to tasering.

We also don't know if the pax who swapped didn't really want to swap but was intimidated, so complained to a FA.