Passengers who want alcohol will still find alcohol, but a sad story this week in Alabama demonstrates the continued problem of alcohol onboard commercial flights. Yet the answer is not to ban alcohol, but to demand personal accountability.
Drunk Woman Strips On United Express Flight After Argument With Seatmate
Sierra Nicole McClinton, 25, was traveling on United Express (CommutAir) from Jacksonville (JAX) to Houston (IAH) and got into an altercation with her seatmate.
The single flight attendant onboard and another passenger tried to calm her down but ended up restraining her after she became increasingly agitated.
It isn’t clear why (perhaps she vomitted on her clothes?) but McClinton stripped down to a t-shirt and her underwear. Her continued bellicosity prompted a diversion to Mobile, Alabama (MOB). On the ground, authorities escorted her out in her underwear as she yelled obscenities through the cabin.
She has been charged with disorderly conduct and public intoxication.
Addressing the incident, CommutAir said:
“CommutAir flight 4332, operating as United Express from Jacksonville to Houston, diverted to Mobile when a passenger became disruptive. The aircraft landed safely in Mobile where law enforcement officials met the aircraft at the gate. The flight continued on to Houston shortly after.”
Alcohol Onboard? The Continuing Debate
I’m not a teetotaler by any means. I also think a call for a general ban on alcohol onboard is counterproductive and dead on arrival.
Indeed, there was no alcohol served onboard in our story above. And for every story of alcohol and flying not mixing, I suspect there are hundreds if not thousands of passengers who encounter no issues.
So as much as a knee-jerk reaction to this issue might be a call to ban alcohol, that is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Instead, flight attendants should be vigilant of passenger behavior and not exacerbate inebriation by serving additional alcohol. This is especially true as United (and therefore United Express) will resume alcohol sales later this week.
More importantly, however, is holding passengers accountable for their actions. McClinton was charged with disorderly conduct and public intoxication, but will she get a bill from United or CommutAir for the additional fuel and wages for the diversion to Mobile?
It seems to me that there will always be outliers who act up onboard, but we can further reduce the incidence of such events by actually holding drunk passengers responsible for the foreseeable costs of their poor behavior.
CONCLUSION
Hopefully McClinton was just having a bad day. Whatever the case, though, she should face civil, not just criminal, penalties for her actions. Accountability (and a bit of public shaming, when appropriate) is key to reducing the prevalence of poor behavior.
(H/T: View from the Wing // image: Mobile Police Department)
Jail time, huge fines, and a lifetime ban from all airlines is the solution. Once again. (You can copy/paste this reply into every clickbait story you post, the details may vary a bit, but they all have the same solution.)
Zero tolerance for idiots is the only way to re-train today’s passengers that the world does not and will not revolve around their moronic behavior.
Make an example of every idiot acting out. Every one of them. No exceptions. Until the flying public gets the message. That’s going to take a long time, but we might as well start now.
The problem is that most of these idiots aren’t breaking laws, just airline policies(though maybe not in this case). You can’t imprison/fine for breaking company policy, though maybe you could sue in civil court. All they can probably do is ban them.
And if there is a civil case, what about the losses incurred by other passengers? If the airlines are going to sue every idiot disruptive passenger, then I would hope the other passengers would be compensated for their wasted time, without each individual passenger having to file a separate lawsuit.
This one time, this orange turd did despicable things with democracy.
And we want to bring back more democracy to the world?
Ha!. It’s the same argument. More vigilance and repercussions, like the blogger says, is necessary.
In the meanwhile let’s enjoy the naked orange-utans.
I too travel very often BUT could not find a travelling partner like. MS. BELLICOSE
United Express, which is any number of independent companies. DBA United Express, is a commuter airline that brings passengers from smaller cities to larger Hubs, like Denver. I dont believe alcohol is currently being served on ANY United Express Flights anywhere in the continental US
As observers we must use caution in throwing around reasons for this womans behavior. Having only a bachelor’s degree in Family Science, I’d say this person suffers more from some type of mental illness rather than the label of heavy drinker, alcoholic, etc. It takes a little more than a few too many drinks to intise a normal thinking individual to strip down to her t shirt and underwear. Shame on the writer of this article for making it sound like we had a young gal who had stripped down to her birthday suit while performing a strip tease if you will.
Her mental illness, which sounds very minimal and probably brought on by another stressor in her life, ie death of a loved one, loss of a job, unfaithful husband etc. Is responsible for her ending up in a Mobile Al jail, not her alcohol intake. The stripping off of one’s clothing is a textbook response by someone who us suffering from a chemically induced psychotic episode. What I’m saying is the incident could have very well been caused by the misuse of a commonly prescribed Medication such as clonazepam, which us given to patients who suffer from anxiety and is often prescribed to those individuals who have a fear of flying. This is a powerful Benzo and only 1 or 2 Mgs over a prescribed dose and you get a yound lady who slips into a drug induced psychotic state and off come the clothes. She probably didn’t even have a drink. Not on that United Express flight anyways. These days, It’s a dry Comm8ter airline.
Hey Matthew,
Regarding drinks (non alcohlic), coffee to be specific, did you have a write up for best coffee at IAD? If not you should! I fly through IAD often and will next month for my LH flight to FRA. Any suggestions?
Not yet, and sadly I am not aware of any great options in any terminal. Will keep looking.
Much appreciated and thanks for all the work you do. I’ve been a loyal star alliance flyer for many years and love your writing. I miss the trip reports almost as much as you miss actually flying them.
What you want everyone to look up a word they have never seen before?
She could of had an adverse reaction to motion sickness meds. Had adverse sumptom from altidue sickness. Vomited and took nasty clothes off and was upset.
Hardly necessitated a diversion; a tipsy woman parading up the aisle in her underwear?
Good grief, give us a break! She didn’t assault anyone, threaten the safety of the plane or passengers. The flight should have continued on to its destination.
She was cursing people out and her behavior was unpredictable. I tend to think she should have just bene zip-tied in her seat, but she did more than just strip.
Paolo, you should not make such comments if you do not know all the facts or are ignorant to the procedures airline’s must follow in these situations. You were not there to ascertain whether or not she posed a threat. Airlines have VERY SPECIFIC protocols on what to do depending on which security threat level a passenger falls under. The idea is to de escalate the situation as much as possible so as to avoid raising the security threat level to the next step. If the passenger makes that impossible, diversion may be the next step, and sometimes MUST be the next step. Trust me, NO crew member EVER wants to divert and disrupt normal operations and inconvenience their passengers. Diversions always increase the number of threats (not security threats) a crew may face because they are not a normal everyday routine, so that would be a last resort. One thing seems to be factual in this case….she had alcohol in her system. People who cannot control themselves or listen to and comply with simple instructions (whether it be mentally, mixing with medications, etc) while consuming alcohol should NEVER board an airplane. One takeaway everyone should learn. It is best to ALWAYS listen to and follow the instructions of their flight attendants (if only out of RESPECT, which the young generation of this country has seemed to have lost). They do not make the rules. They only are REQUIRED (sometimes by law per the FAA) to enforce them, lest they are threatened by disciplinary action. So yes people, STOP TEXTING and get off your phones when asked to do so. FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELT when told to do so. And LEAVE IT FASTENED untill you get parked at the gate and the seatbelt sign goes off. And as much as I hate to say it in this day and age, do wear your mask. So above all SHOW SOME RESPECT people.
She certainly smiled for the camera!!
Pretty smile too. Praying that this is a wake up call and she gets help if she needs it
Flyover a true liberal brainwashed idiot!!!
Trump lost, boo hoo – get over it already.
Good news, there is 0% chance you’re in the top 1%, your taxes are likely to go down under Biden vs. Trump, who gave away the farm to corporations & the top 1%