Jail passengers who insist on using their mobile phones in aircraft, pilots urge

People who use mobile telephones in aircraft should be fined £5,000 - and jailed for five years if they refuse to stop using …

People who use mobile telephones in aircraft should be fined £5,000 - and jailed for five years if they refuse to stop using them - according to the Irish Airline Pilots Association. The pilots said research had shown that interference from mobile phones can cause "spurious warnings and indications onboard and can affect flight critical components."

In a submission to the Government on the Aviation Regulation Bill 2000, the IALPA expressed deep concern about unruly and disruptive passengers. It said it had found major legal differences between countries. Irish law was "far too lenient in dealing with the problems pilots see on a daily basis".

It also wanted fines of £5,000 for disruptive passengers and five years' jail, depending on the seriousness of the incident. An airline operator should have the right to recover the costs of diverting an aircraft.

The IALPA said Irish pilots were seeing a rising number of passengers becoming abusive and disruptive. In the last two months there had been three attempts by passengers in Europe and the US to enter the cockpit, overpower the pilots and cause the aircraft to crash.

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"Just by becoming disruptive it exerts pressure on the already stretched cabin crew and flight crew and decreases the cockpit crew's situational awareness, leading to a decrease in overall flight safety," the submission said.

"A disruptive passenger does not have to enter the cockpit to cause it to crash, just by causing a distraction can lead to a loss of crew situational awareness and possible loss of the aircraft and all souls on board."

The IALPA warned that an aircraft at 41,000 feet, travelling at eight miles a minute, possibly 2 1/2 hours from an airport with no police back-up was not a public place.

"It should be seen as a special place," it said.

It recommended a £5,000 fine for threatening, abusing or insulting a crew member, and a £5,000 fine and two years' imprisonment for intentionally interfering with the performance of a crew member. Smokers also come in for strong criticism. It is recommended a fine of £2,500 for smoking, and a £2,500 fine and five years' jail for smoking in a compartment having disabled the fire detecting equipment.

"Passengers rarely smoke in the cabin but are more likely to try to smoke secretly in the toilet by blocking or disabling the smoke detectors. When caught they tend to throw the lit cigarette into the waste bin. This has led to toilet fires and is one of the most frightening scenarios a crew can face in flight," the submission said.