While the introduction of anti-smoking laws on airlines dates back to the mid-1980s (older movies sometimes shock younger generations with scenes of someone casually lighting up a cigarette on board a plane), the recent explosion of e-cigarette use has reignited what many once considered a nearly solved problem of passengers trying to “take a puff.”
A report by the Air Transport Association (IATA) says the use of “cigarettes, e-cigarettes, vapes and smoking devices in the cabin or lavatories” has become the number one non-compliance issue reported to authorities in recent years. Flight attendants have also been warning about passengers who become aggressive when told they cannot vape on board the flight.
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This is precisely what happened on an American Airlines flight. (AAL) flight from Milwaukee to Dallas-Fort Worth when a first-class passenger pulled out a vaping device in full view of everyone on board and then became aggressive toward a flight attendant who told him to stop.
Passenger smoked e-cigarette in plain sight and allegedly 'chased' flight attendant
“The warning allegedly antagonized the passenger, who accused the flight attendant of making false accusations against him before chasing the crew member to the forward gallery,” it reads. twitter“>The initial description According to aviation website PYOK, “At that point, other passengers jumped out of their seats to protect the flight attendant and the pilots decided to divert the emergency flight to Oklahoma, where the attacker could disembark.”
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FlightAware data shows that American Airlines Flight 1733 was indeed diverted to Tulsa and then continued on to its destination in Texas a few hours later. American Airlines confirmed that the flight was “diverted to Tulsa, Oklahoma, due to a disruptive customer,” but denied reports that a flight attendant had been attacked.
As is customary in such situations, the airline thanked the “team for their professionalism and apologized to our customers for the inconvenience.” The flight landed in Tulsa at 21:20 instead of the scheduled 17:27.
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These are some of the other vaping incidents that have taken place on planes in recent months
Several airlines and flight attendants working for them have reported an increase in vaping-related incidents.
In March, a Delta Air Lines employee… (DAL) The passenger was not allowed to board the flight after Getting started vaping on the jet bridge onto the plane and became belligerent after being told that was not allowed.
In a TikTok video that has garnered more than four million views, Colorado-based flight attendant Natalie Magee said the “it’s just vapor” argument that many passengers use to justify vaping doesn’t actually work, given that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) doesn’t distinguish between cigarettes and e-cigarettes and treats both as a violation of anti-smoking laws.
Flight attendants have the ability to give a warning to passengers if they are detected once or report to authorities if they continue to ignore the law to the point of endangering people on board the flight.
“When you smoke or vape in the bathroom and you don't identify yourself and you get caught, that plane is grounded for at least two hours because they have to do a complete review of the systems and the engines,” Magee explained.
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