At approximately the same time, two unrelated incidents involved disciplinary actions against unruly passengers. The first incident occurred on an American Airlines flight on December 30, while the second occurred on a Qantas flight the following day.

"They're K*lling Me"

American Airlines Flight 948 is a regularly scheduled flight between Rio de Janeiro Galeão International Airport in Brazil (GIG) and Miami (MIA). On December 30, a passenger suddenly began suffering from a meltdown. It's unclear how this started, but the meltdown caused such a disturbance that other passengers had to get involved.

Video surfacing from the incident shows crew members and other passengers attempting to restrain the individual. In the process, the individual can be heard shouting "Help" and "They're killing me" in Spanish. The bystanders trying to restrain him can be heard saying, "Breathe" and "Hold my hand." Another passenger began duct-taping the individual arms and attempted to duct-tape the mouth in hopes of restraining him further. 

The flight, operated by a Boeing 777-200ER, N760AN, still departed on time and arrived in Miami ahead of schedule. Local news reports that no arrests were made, and the origin of the meltdown remains unknown.

Drama Down Under

Qantas Flight 46 is a regularly scheduled flight from Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia (DPS) to Melbourne (MEL). On December 31, about an hour after the flight departed Bali, a passenger reportedly began causing a series of violent outbursts. These outbursts started shortly after the cabin lights had been switched off. 

QF46 departs Bali at 10 p.m. and travels through the night, so it appears the cabin lights being turned off had to do with helping the passengers get some rest. Rest was, suffice it to say, quite difficult on this particular flight. The 28-year-old individual began shouting various random phrases, some threatening. He even attacked three other passengers, but no injuries were reported from them.

It took five other passengers to overpower the troubled individual and bring him to the ground. There, his hands were tied with his head on a pillow. Another passenger restrained the man by putting their knees in the individual's back. Denpasar to Melbourne is a roughly five-hour flight. The remaining four hours saw the crew taking turns restraining the man in the aisle.

QF46, operated by a Boeing 737-800, VH-XZH, landed in Melbourne 25 minutes early that day. Upon arrival, the man was handed over to the Australian Federal Police (AFP). The AFP stated that the man was being taken in for a medical assessment and that no charges had been placed. It remains unclear if the man was under the influence or suffering from some sort of disorder. In any case, the exact cause of his sudden outbursts has not been determined.

Increase in Disruptive Behavior

Cases of unruly passengers have been rising since the pandemic. 2021 saw a high number of such incidents reported onboard aircraft, many related to mask-wearing policies. However, even after mask requirements were dropped worldwide, such inflight episodes remain somewhat regular.

Even in 2022, unruly passenger incidents rose 47% from 2021. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the rate of inflight unruly incidents rose from 1 in 835 to 1 in 568. IATA found that the most common types of unruly conduct are related to non-compliance with crew instructions in addition to verbal abuse and intoxication.

As 2023 entered, reports continued to increase. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reports that as of June 11, 822 reports of unruly passengers had been documented. May alone saw 169 incidents, and data for the rest of 2023 has not been confirmed. As with the incidents mentioned above, no one knows why these episodes are recurring issues on flights.