American Airline and military officials reported that two Royal Air Force fighter jets were dispatched for a flight bound for Heathrow International Airport Tuesday. This action was provoked by a female passenger who was trying break into the cockpit.
AA Flight #78 that departed from Dallas/Fort Worth on Monday landed safely at approximately 11 a.m. (1100 GMT). The woman, who has yet to be identified, was taken into custody.
American Airlines personnel said the passenger “became distressed during the flight and reportedly attempted to gain access to the flight deck. “She was calmed by flight attendants but, as a precaution, a priority approach to London was requested and police were asked to meet the aircraft.”
The Ministry of Defense said the Typhoon fighters were scrambled from the RAF Coningsby base in central England on Tuesday morning. They returned to the base after the incident was determined not to be terrorism-related.
On January 6th, 2010, two F-15 fighter jets escorted a Hawaiian Airlines flight bound for Hawaii back to Portland International Airport after a passenger became disruptive and refused to cooperate with the crew.
Many passengers have witnessed others becoming unruly when they’ve had too much to drink. Could this be another signal that people should be limited in how much liquor they’re served during flights?
There have been other such incidents. Even though no one would ever want people’s lives to be at danger, is our society seeing terrorists everywhere to the point that such extraordinary and costly means are going to become the norm in commercial aviation? No one is suggesting flight crews take any chances. But is there something called going overboard? What do you think?
Karen Fawcett is president of Bonjour Paris
Karen Fawcett loves to travel anywhere. Karen was a founder & president BonjourParis.com while living in Paris for more than 25 years. She has traveled across Europe and the rest of the world. She is now based in Washington, DC.
