Resort flights prepare for an air brawler invasion

“In July and August, a sharp surge in air debauchery is expected, especially on resort flights, we have special training,” domestic flight attendants working on resort destinations share a secret. The reason for additional safety trainings is “recommendations from doctors”, but what exactly they are caused by is not specified. I had to find out from the doctors themselves.

Recall that the air brawl as a phenomenon appeared in Russia back in the 90s with the start of international flights with legal alcohol on board. And since the “performance” in 2013 on board the Moscow-Hurghada flight, passenger Kabalov has also become an article of the Criminal Code, according to which in mild cases you can get off with a huge fine, and in severe cases you can lose your freedom. In the same year, while Kabalov was on trial, an air debaucher-deputy, an air-debaucher-athlete and an air-debaucher-official “came out” on the Russian sides. But when Sergey Kabalov was sentenced by the Moscow Regional Court to 3.5 years in a strict regime colony, and the RF IC promised imprisonment of up to 12 years to other fans of “gussar” in flight, as they pose a real threat to the health and safety of passengers and crew, air brawlers noticeably decreased. But this year, having barely begun, has become a “renaissance” of air debauchery. In January, a Russian plane flying from Moscow to Goa requested an emergency landing in Urgench, Uzbekistan, to get rid of a brawler that neither the crew nor 355 passengers could handle. Then, on the Stavropol-Moscow flight, a brawler of the fair sex acted, biting the flight attendant for preventing her from smoking, swearing and exposing herself during the flight. In the spring, two passengers traveling from Yekaterinburg to Dubai clung to others and to each other so that in the UAE they were met by a police squad called by the crew. The summer of Russian passenger aviation began with a VIP passenger who, on June 1, on a Krasnoyarsk-Moscow flight, first stole a bottle of cognac from the stewardess’ cart, then quickly emptied it, locking himself in the toilet, after which he began to smoke and provoke the crew and other passengers to fight. Instead of the business class he paid for, the Krasnoyarsk citizen had to fly to the capital on the floor of the galley in strait belts and plastic handcuffs (since September 1, 2022, Russian flight attendants are officially allowed to neutralize violators of the order with them). Upon arrival, VIP was met by law enforcement officers and taken to a temporary detention center. All of the listed brawlers, and these are only the most resonant cases, were taken up by the RF IC.

And now, against the backdrop of an already fruitful half-year on air fights, doctors predict a “new surge” for the rest of the summer.

– How much more? – I ask a psychotherapist, who agrees with the opinion of colleagues from IATA (International Air Transport Association), who set out in the report the forecasts of the growth in the number of accidents on board passenger liners, confirmed by numbers (the number of unpleasant incidents at altitude over the past year has grown worldwide by 61% and shows a steady upward trend).

“We are talking not only about air hooligans, but also about health problems at altitude,” the doctor explains. – The number of accidents similar to what happened with the singer’s husband Diana Gurtskaya (46-year-old official Pyotr Kucherenko died suddenly at the end of May during a flight from Havana to Moscow, heart problems were named as the cause – author), alas, it can also grow up.

Is it the pandemic that has weakened the whole world so much?

– Postponed covid is only one of the causes of trouble at altitude. He could exacerbate “sleeping” chronic sores, and the height and the corresponding pressure drops and oxygen deficiency, in turn, tend to aggravate their manifestations. And speaking specifically about Russia, the reason for the numerical growth of the state of emergency is also that this summer a record number of Russians will rise into the air, including those who have not flown before due to aerophobia. But this year, many who have planned a vacation at domestic resorts, but did not take care of tickets for ground transport in early spring, cannot get on ahead of time sold out southern trains and buses. But you want to go on vacation, and aerophobes decide to take a chance by boarding a plane.

– But is it bad to overcome your fear?

– It’s not bad to overcome, but do not underestimate aerophobia. This is not just a whim, but a disorder similar in symptoms to a panic attack. A person cannot overcome the horror that has rolled over him with the help of arguments of reason and ceases to control himself. And many, knowing such a reaction behind themselves and being afraid to look ugly in front of fellow travelers, try to drown out their fear of heights with alcohol. But it gets even worse. Alcohol taken at high altitude under conditions of reduced partial pressure of oxygen (an indicator of the rate of oxygen penetration from the lungs into the arterial bloodstream – ed.) Can cause an inadequate reaction in a practically healthy person. And absolutely not the same as on earth. This is due to a number of factors: high-altitude hypoxia (oxygen starvation, as a result of which in healthy people the saturation of arterial blood with oxygen at altitude decreases by an average of 4%). And also dehydration of the body (dehydration) and dry air, provoking asthmatics and people with respiratory diseases, also frightening their shortness of breath, an unpleasant sensation from which they try to “fill in” with alcohol. And intoxication is superimposed on an attack of aerophobic panic and is completely capable of bringing the most unexpected “fruits” – different, but they will not be pleasant for sure.

Colleagues of other medical specialties are in solidarity: everyone who has a history of problems with the heart, blood pressure, blood vessels and lungs, as well as all men over 40 are at risk at height (they have a particularly increased risk of thrombosis during air travel, and if they also “took per capita, the consequences are generally unpredictable.

– So, maybe air brawlers should be treated, and not judged? I appeal to doctors.

– If a person is healthy on the ground, and in flight becomes a threat to the safety of life and health of everyone who is in the same “boat” with him – an airplane, then no one will experience leniency towards him on the basis that aerophobia is more of a disease than a fad. Therefore, it is better for aerophobes who cannot cope with their phobia not to fly. And if they are already flying, then at least not to drink.

– It’s easy to say – if you’re afraid, don’t fly! – Oryol resident, who became famous in Runet for his gratitude to Russian Railways for curing aerophobia, is indignant. It was preceded by 45 days of uninterrupted vigil by a family of three vacationers both in virtual aggregators and in real ticket offices in an attempt to purchase a train ticket to Sochi. But they seemed fruitless, and now the aerophobe from Orel will have to travel by air, and even with a two-day transfer in Volgograd. How he will carry it, one can only guess.