Sunday Morning Hot Tea - No. 30
Nothing Much At All and Don't Bite A Flight Attendant
Welcome to Sunday Morning Hot Tea where I write about a little something up top then answer a legal question for you down below. This week, I don’t really have anything for you, but should I show up anyway? Plus, don’t mess with flight attendants.
In this edition:
Topic of the Week – Nothing Much at All
Legal Question – You’re Now Free to Sit TF Down in the Cabin
Showing Up
It’s after midnight, eastern time. I am sitting in a hotel room in Philadelphia, listening to Bo Burnham’s INSIDE. Kolchak: The Night Stalker is muted on the TV. I am going to send this out to you all in the morning.
I usually like to draft this newsletter during the week. At the very worst, I write it early on Saturday then spend the day editing. Still, it gets done on time. I like sending something out every week because it feels like a nice way to connect with you.
Some pieces I write turn out better than others. Some turn out worse That’s the nature of anything we create – half of the product will be below average. That’s just a fact. I’ve come to terms with that. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.
There are times the words flow like water. I have to turn on the faucet and get some rust out, but still they come.
Other times, I feel like a character in that movie/TV trope where the person types something on the typewriter, pulls the page out, crumples it up then throws it in the trash. The problem with laptops and traveling is I don’t have the dramatic gesture of crumpling up a sheet of paper and tossing it out. Instead, I can only highlight and press the delete key – a much less impactful action. I guess I could drag the file to the little virtual trashcan. Just doesn’t feel the same, though.
Today is one of those paper-crumpling days.
So, here we are. I am writing to you with nothing to say. That’s pretty scary. You may think, Why are you sending anything then? Because I said I would. I gave this little thing a name that had a due date in it so I would have a date to shoot for each week.
It seems like a dying concept to do something just because you say you would. This can be good. You say you’ll do a thing, then you do it. It’s called Sunday Morning Hot Tea, so that’s when you’ll get it.
I also like to believe we as a society are becoming more understanding. We’re all trying to be kinder to each other and to ourselves. If someone cannot physically do something that they said they would, I hope we give them a little space and a little grace. For instance, sometimes I send y’all a note saying there will be no newsletter because I got engaged or because I baked myself in the sun on July 4th weekend.
This week, there was no reason for me not to do this. Sure, I’m on a short vacation to Philadelphia, but that’s not the problem. There have been a hundred and sixty-some-odd hours between last Sunday and right now. I spent a lot of those hours working on the show. I went to Pure Barre. I did some fun stuff, like having lunch with my mom, going on a dinner date with Paris, and getting my nails done with LeeAnn. I also watched Loki and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season one (have y’all seen “The Dinner Party From Hell” episode? Unreal!)
What I didn’t do? Work on this. At least not directly. I did my morning pages some days, but not every day. Then I flew to Philadelphia to see my friend, Elyse. I tried working on this a little during the trip, but things got in the way – like visiting with her, meeting her family and friends, enjoying a classic Philadelphia sandwich called the Schmitter, and taking a satisfying hotel nap.
That left me with a choice – should I tap out, send you all a message saying, “Sorry, y’all! I’m on vacation!” and go to bed? A part of me wanted to. The other part – that driven part of me that keeps the train moving forward at all costs – said no. It told me to grab a La Colombe draft latte and crank out a meaningful and thoughtful piece for you.
Well, that didn’t happen. I had a few ideas, but I crumpled up everything I started and threw it into the virtual trash can. Still, I decided to send this because of that driven part inside me that won’t let me not.
Here’s the question I keep coming back to: is that driven part a good part of me? Is that what we want – to do what we said we would do no matter what? On the one hand, it makes us reliable. People know we’ll be there for them when we say we will. On the other hand, is it ok to tap out if we just want to? Where is the line between obligation and selfishness?
I don’t have an answer yet, but I’ll keep thinking. Maybe I’ll figure it out somewhere over the next hundred and sixty eight hours. If it comes to me by then, I’ll send you a note and let you know.
QUESTION FROM YOU – What happens to all these people getting wild on airplanes right now?
This question was inspired by a text from my mom. She sent me this article from her personal favorite news source, TMZ. It’s about a woman who had a mental health episode on a plane and tried opening the door while the plane was in mid-flight. While reading that article, a link came up for a second article about a man who tried breaching the cockpit on a different flight. Great reading right before my first plane ride since the pandemic!
Some commenters on the videos expressed disgust that flight attendants had duct taped the woman or zip tied the man, especially if there were mental health concerns. Since the flight crew has the obligation to keep the plane safe, others were saying the crew did what they had to in order to ensure a safe landing for everyone else on board.
These two are not the only incidents. Since the beginning of the year, the FAA has received approximately 3,271 reports of unruly behavior by passengers. The agency identified potential violations in 540 cases and initiated enforcement action in 83 cases. During the same timeframe, the FAA has proposed more than $682,000 in fines against unruly passengers, as of July 6, 2021.
That got me thinking: What are the consequences for flipping out on a plane?
Here’s a free bit of legal advice, if you’re going on a plane – sit down, shut up, and do exactly what the crew tells you. The Federal Aviation Administration has recently implemented a zero-tolerance policy in punishing passenger behavior. That means they’re charging people for initial infractions without issuing warnings.
The FAA has also begun publicizing details of incidents, a departure from its previous norms, in an effort to shame passengers into compliance. Has it worked? Not so far. There have still been a huge increase in confiscated weapons at TSA security checkpoints and repeated incidents.
So what’s the worse that could happen if you go apeshit on a plane?
CONSEQUENCE 1 – GO TO JAIL, DO NOT COLLECT $200
Under to federal law (49 U.S.C. § 46504), if someone (1) assaults or intimidates a flight crew member or flight attendant, (2) interferes with the performance of their duties, or (3) lessens their ability to perform those duties, that person “shall be fined,” imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or both. However, if the person uses a dangerous weapon assaulting or intimidating the crew member, they “shall” be imprisoned for any term of years or for life.
CONSEQUENCE 2 – OK, FINE
In addition to criminal charges, the FAA can levy civil files. The administration’s recent press releases detail the fines along with breakdowns of what each person did. The most recent press release lists hefty fines for wild behavior. They include:
$21,500 fine for a man who refused to wear a face mask, drank alcohol that he brought on board, fought with the crew and other passengers, then punched the person next to him.
$17,000 fine for a man who refused to wear a face mask, talked on his phone during the safety demonstration, then got up and walked through the plane during landing.
$10,500 fine for a man who called 911 and reported that the flight attendant was being held a knifepoint and the plane was being hijacked. None of this was true. As the plane taxied back, he called the FBI and reported a bomb on board.
So far, there have not been announcements as to what is going to happen to the duct tape woman or zip tie man. The duct tape woman allegedly bit the flight attendant, so she’s probably going to be charged criminally, in addition to being fined. The zip tied man may be charged criminally since he fought the flight crew and interfered with the performance of their duties.
WHAT ABOUT AIR MARSHALS?
The TSA does not reveal how many air marshals are working at a given time or what flight routes they are on. Based on the high number of flights each day in the United States, it is safe to say there is no way for an air marshal to be on every single flight out there.
In fact, in a 2014 interview with John Casaretti, the then-current National President of the Air Marshal Association/CWA in USA Today, he said air marshals only “cover a very small percentage of commercial flights.” Super. In that same article, it states that air marshals are to get involved “only after a flight crew has exhausted its ability to handle a situation.”
DO THE PASSENGERS GET A TRIAL?
When someone is civilly fined, they don’t quite get a full trial. The process is slightly different. Since the FAA is a government agency, it has its own type of judges called Administrative Law Judges, or ALJs. Though it is not a full trial, the passengers will be able to hire an attorney and present evidence to tell their sides of the stories. The FAA will also present the evidence it has collected against the passengers. The judge will hear both sides then make a ruling. Just like a regular lawsuit, the ALJ’s decision can be appealed. If they lose, the passengers first appeal to the FAA Administrator, then on to the Federal Court of Appeals.
As for criminal charges, the U.S. Attorney (federal prosecutors) gets involved. This was true in the case of a Miami man who caused a disturbance during a flight on July 7. The FBI investigated the incident after two on-board air marshals subdued the man. After the investigation, the Department of Justice announced charges against the man on their website just a week later. If he does not reach a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney, he will go to trial in federal court where he faces a sentence of up to twenty years in federal prison.
Civil and criminal penalties aside, my recommendation is not to mess with flight attendants. Just this week, Business Insider reported they are receiving intensive self-defense training, including moves like “the double-ear slap, the eye-poke, and the groin-kick” intended to disarm unruly passengers who may be wielding sharp weapons. They’re also taught to use items on the plane to as weapons for self-defense.
Meanwhile, I’m flying out later this afternoon. I’ll be sure to pack my boxing gloves in my carry-on, just in case.
Thanks for sending that article to me, Mom!
Got a question? Submit it here. They can be legal what-if questions, questions on current events, or questions about the legality of actions in TV shows or movies you’ve seen. I never ever want to answer your personal legal questions, so don't send those. Love you, but I don’t do that.
Until next week, that’s the tea, and I hope no one on the plane bows up to me.
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