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Home » Law In Travel » Passenger Fined Over $40,000 For Smoking Marijuana In Lavatory, Sexually Assaulting Southwest Airlines Flight Attendant, Consuming His Own Alcohol Onboard
Law In TravelSouthwest Airlines

Passenger Fined Over $40,000 For Smoking Marijuana In Lavatory, Sexually Assaulting Southwest Airlines Flight Attendant, Consuming His Own Alcohol Onboard

Matthew Klint Posted onNovember 23, 2021November 14, 2023 33 Comments

a man smoking a cigarette

In its latest bevy of proposed fines for problematic airplane passengers, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has provided details about a vicious case of passenger misconduct on Southwest Airlines.

Passenger Faces $40,000 Fine For Smoking, Drinking, And Assaulting On Southwest Airlines Flight

The incident occurred on April 15, 2021 on a Southwest Airlines flights from San Jose, California (SJC) to San Diego (SAN). According to the FAA, the passenger brought his own alcohol onboard and began consuming in-flight. When admonished by flight attendants to stop, he sexually assaulted the flight attendant (no further details are provided as to the nature of this assault).

The flight was too short too divert, but as the plane was descending to Lindbergh Field in San Diego, the passenger stood up and retreated to the lavatory. Inside the lavatory, he smoked marijuana.

Law enforcement officers were waiting to meet the plane and arrested the passenger, who tried to evade officers (on a plane…real smart dude). He was charged for resisting arrest and public intoxication.

The FAA has now proposed a $40,823 fine against the passenger. This is in addition to any criminal penalties he faces.

That’s a start, to be sure, but this guy should do some hard labor and face a huge civil lawsuit from the flight attendant as well.

I’m very glad to see the FAA cracking down on passengers like this, even if it is seven months late. This case is particularly egregious, but the FAA has proposed another $161,000 in fines against eight airline passengers. Almost every case involves a similar combination: the passenger brought his own alcohol onboard, consumed it, and refused to wear his mask.

CONCLUSION

Personally, I’m ready to immediately end the mask mandate onboard. But until that happens, we follow the obligations that proceed from our voluntary choice to travel by air. Whether it be the federal government or individual airlines, masks and abstaining from personal alcohol are offered as part of the bargained for exchange when purchasing an airline ticket. If you don’t like the deal, walk away…but don’t shake hands and then not hold up your part of the bargain…lest you be one of the fools in the next edition of the FAA naughty list.

image: stock photo – not the alleged perpetrator

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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33 Comments

  1. Derek Reply
    November 23, 2021 at 1:21 pm

    We both know that the party whose symbol ironically is a DONKEY will NEVER end the mask mandates. It is virtue signaling at this point, when we have vaccines and soon to have effective treatments

    • Dan Reply
      November 23, 2021 at 2:45 pm

      Vaccines aren’t perfect and the newer medications are purely reactive. Yes, we will continue to require masks so long as these two solutions aren’t enough.

      Do you seriously not understand this very simple point?

      • Derek Reply
        November 23, 2021 at 3:34 pm

        I actually understand RISK MANAGEMENT, Dan

        You should really get the New York Times daily newsletter. If fully vaccinated, riding a bike poses more risk to you than Covid, much less driving if you are under 65.

        This is an ENDEMIC virus. We CANNOT eradicate this. Covid Zero is a failed strategy (something Dems do not want to understand). Going for covid Zero is as much a donkey strategy as is calling an all in with 7-2 off suit. Only total donkeys do that

        Not going to take precautions for something with odds that low. If I did that, I’d have to give up driving

        • Carmen Jones Reply
          November 23, 2021 at 11:17 pm

          Why are you being so obtuse?? The virus is also spread by people yelling, and singing, in enclosed spaces. What do you think an airplane is?? S football field.
          Get with the program, and if you don’t like it, then DRIVE THERE!

          • Marian Langston
            November 24, 2021 at 2:55 am

            The virus is also spread by vaccinated people. Why do we now have 142000 children with covid (David Muir ABC TODAY)? Because morons mandated and the sheep fell for it to push COVID Jabs into children. The worst is yet to come. Think back Thalidomide babies born without limbs in the 50’s..

          • Derek
            November 24, 2021 at 6:45 am

            The obtuse one is YOU, Carmen

            You are afraid of a virus that poses no threat to you if you are vaccinated

            If YOU are that afraid, go lock yourself in your Mommy’s basement for the rest of your life

        • Paul Reply
          November 24, 2021 at 2:59 pm

          Too many non-vaccinated people exists to let our guard down. If everyone was vaccinated, I would agree with you to drop the masks.

      • cargocult Reply
        November 23, 2021 at 5:08 pm

        Mask mandates don’t work. Why is this so hard to understand? Air travel is not what spreads the virus. It is what passengers might do while they are on the ground that spreads it.

        • Cody Reply
          November 24, 2021 at 9:34 am

          You must be a scientist. You wouldn’t be saying this when you’re on a respirator silly elephant!

    • Micah Maloof Reply
      November 23, 2021 at 7:11 pm

      Oh dear sweet Derrick, ya still upset orange fool lost his job, house, limo and plane? .

      • Derek Reply
        November 23, 2021 at 9:38 pm

        typical Donkey Democrat thinking he knows far more than he actually does

        For the record, I voted for neither of the clowns last year. Trump lost my vote due to poor performance

      • Marian Langston Reply
        November 24, 2021 at 3:06 am

        Orange fool (no disrespect President Trump)
        Did not cause 142,000 children to contract COVID (ABC David Muir today) – but the JABS they have been mandated to take is a probable cause of this outbreak. Only PARENTS can protect Their children. To the BIDEN administration they are collateral damage. And they could have gotten it from the 2,000,000 ILLEGALS Biden let in at the Border, 26 percent of whom have COVID, and BIDEN has scattered them throughout the 50 states. Let this sink in if you have a brain.

  2. John R Reply
    November 23, 2021 at 1:23 pm

    @Matthew you might have meant to put enforcement instead of enfacement at the top of the story.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      November 23, 2021 at 1:28 pm

      Correct. Thank you.

  3. Pete Reply
    November 23, 2021 at 1:48 pm

    What a looker that stock photo is!

  4. Ryan Reply
    November 23, 2021 at 3:47 pm

    @Matt,

    This is a critique of your writing. Your conclusion doesn’t flow from the main part of the story. You shifted your focus from a drunk passenger behaving badly to mask mandates without connecting the dots. There is a logic jump you made somewhere that should have been spelled out. That would make for more compelling writing.

    Given the jump, I have a serious question to ask.

    Given that
    1. Breakthrough cases happen (though with far less deadly consequences)
    2. Many airline passengers are not fully vaxxed (nor will they be required to do so)
    3. Anti-vaxxers exist / many adults are not vaxxed
    4. Surgical grade / n95 / kn94 masks are scientifically proven effective

    How do we better balance public health outcomes / minimize (but not eliminate the risk of Covid19) and get on with our lives.. than =requiring surgical or n95 / kn94 grade masks? I get that the COVID risk will never be eliminated as that that ship has sailed.

    Please understand that my questions / statements are meant to be thoughtful and i come at this wanting to learn a different perspective than my own.

    • cargocult Reply
      November 23, 2021 at 5:13 pm

      A surgical mask is NOT an N95 mask. Mask mandates do not work. Do you think the porous cloth masks people wear do anything to stop aerosols? Maybe they would be effective if everyone wore property fitted N95 masks, but that is never going to happen. Are you claiming that masks are effective on the basis of the Danish and Bangladeshi RCTs? Or have you not even read those and are just parroting the (false) standard public health talking points? Masks are required on commercial flights only because that is something the federal government controls. It’s purely to send a message. Show me a single superspreader event on a US flight.

      Perhaps the best thing people can do to protect themselves from COVID-19 is to lose weight. Fat kills, comrades.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      November 24, 2021 at 12:14 am

      @Ryan: I tend to offer my opinions in the conclusion – I realize that it is not a traditional “conclusion” summing up what is above it, so your criticism is accepted in good faith.

      I see the U.S. mask paradigm as a joke. No requirements as to what type of mask to wear with too many people improperly wearing cloth masks that do little good.

      We are only now beginning to understand the horrible ramifications (and death) that came from lockdowns, separate from a virus that largely hastens the death of those with co-morbidities. It will get worse as more stories and stats emerge.

      I continue to think that everyone should be vaxxed (voluntarily) and those who refuse should be denied hospital space if a hospital has to choose between a vaccinated and non-vaccinated patient due to limited bed space. But I see the horrific air rage that masks cause and I am willing to take my chances not wearing a mask knowing that others around me, probably many who are unvaccinated, also will not. As I’ve said before, life is about risks. You are free to continue to wear N95s, turn down service onboard, or even stay home. I’m not willing to do that any more.

  5. Santastico Reply
    November 23, 2021 at 4:25 pm

    This garbage should be behind bars.

  6. Calendar Nazi Reply
    November 23, 2021 at 4:58 pm

    If this occurred in April 2020, how is this 7 months later? It’s Nov 2021, I’m not a math major but it’s been 19 months since then event, unless it occurred in April 2021?

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      November 24, 2021 at 12:06 am

      2021.

  7. Dave Edwards Reply
    November 23, 2021 at 7:10 pm

    This dude probably doesn’t have $40 to his name, let alone $40K. Small chance the fine gets paid before he disappears and they give up finding him.

    Look at the BLM supporter who drove through the crowd, was wanted in Nevada for years. No attempt to bring him back and that was criminal. This is simple civil penalties. Pure theater.

  8. bigbird Reply
    November 23, 2021 at 11:31 pm

    Mask mandates work. See: United Airlines and the NYPD vaccination rates. Masks work. The US has 90,000 new cases and over 1,000 deaths every day and we are going into winter. More than 750,000 are dead. It’s no time to back off mandates nor masks.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      November 23, 2021 at 11:58 pm

      They seem to be working splendidly…

      Masks should be N95/KN95 or none at all. The cloth masks are pure theatre.

      • Paul Reply
        November 24, 2021 at 3:04 pm

        It really depends on the material and how many layers. Cotton masks works better than polyester ones.

  9. David Reply
    November 24, 2021 at 5:09 am

    I like the idea of sending people like this to a place where they spend 8 – 10 hours a day make small rocks from big ones. As long as senile Joe is in office, we’re gonna be stuck wearing masks. Yesterday I pulled a Kyle Rittenhouse and drove across state lines. At three different gas stations the pumps had Let’s Go Brandon and Joe Biden I Did That sickers on them. His fan club is out in full force.

    • Derek Reply
      November 24, 2021 at 6:52 am

      Yep. Masks WILL be required until January 20, 2025

      • Paul Reply
        November 24, 2021 at 3:02 pm

        I doubt it. By then, all the non-vaccinated people would be infected multiple times already. They would be dead or built up their immunity.

        • Derek Reply
          November 24, 2021 at 4:48 pm

          It’s not about the science to the Brandon Regime (or to the Republicans for that matter). This is all about virtue signaling now

          If it were, vaccines would be mandated over the objections of the misguided Republican governors and masks would no longer be required. However, masks are now the MAGA hats of the left, while refusing the vaccine seems to be a badge of honor for Republicans

  10. T Spears Reply
    November 24, 2021 at 8:19 am

    The comment section shows why you had to put that conclusion, with so many people triggered over masks. It’s scary that both sides have essentially thrown common sense and logic out the window, along with civil discourse… and prefer unhinged rants and fringe talking points. You’re 100% correct though: like it or not, masks are required for air travel. They tell you several times before you go (in case you weren’t) aware, they tell you in the airport to get to the plane, and they tell you before take off. There are plenty of chances to walk away and find another.mode of transportation that doesn’t require masks. Instead, many agree to it and then drop their side of the bargain, and prefer throwing a temper tantrum, and impacting the flight crew and other passengers.

    As for this guy, who didn’t seem to have any mask issues, I think the punishment is exactly what should be given to anyone who behaves likes that. One thing I noticed when flying resumed, is that a lot of people who have never flown before are taking trips, and they don’t know how to behave anywhere. I’ve seen so many arguments on planes in the last 1.5 years and 90% aren’t related to masks… It’s mostly about alcohol, chewing tobacco, assigned seats, not wearing seatbelts, playing sound on devices without headphones, et cetera. I hope they continue to punish these people with fines and/or jail time, as most aren’t going to care if they are banned.

  11. Intelligence Reply
    November 24, 2021 at 8:55 am

    Derek, didn’t waste any time before a partisan political comment, thanks for nothing.

    Re: “This is an ENDEMIC virus. We CANNOT eradicate this.” Polio, smallpox, chickenpox, diphtheria, bacterial influenza, measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, and …, and …, and …

    • Derek Reply
      November 24, 2021 at 10:17 am

      If you think we can eradicate covid, LACK of Intelligence should be your user name

      This is going to be here forever, just as influenza is

  12. emercycrite Reply
    November 28, 2021 at 4:04 am

    Another case for summary execution.

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