Russian MPs propose 2-year ban on boarding airliners for in-flight hell-raisers

Members of the Federation Council, the upper house of Russian parliament, recommend imposing a two-years-long ban on boarding airliners on the individuals who brawl in flight, the Moscow-based daily Izvestia says in its Tuesday issue. A bill spelling out this prohibition was drafted by the member of the house, Evgeny Tarlo. The bill says that drinking in flight may entail a prohibition to board airliners for six months and more serious violations will be punishable by sanctions for up to two years. “The action of people encroaching on the rules of conduct aboard jets pose an especial danger,” Yevgeny Tarlo said. “It’s one thing to display offensive conduct in a regular public place and quite a different thing to spark off a brawl aboard a jet.” He recalled that the actions of football fans making a jet sway in mid-air are not regarded as an offense in the current edition of the Criminal Code. “And yet this swaying, too, jeopardizes the in-flight security of passengers,” Tarlo said. “But if you make them unable to fly to Manchester for football games for some two years after they get drunk aboard, this will be an efficacious measure.” In addition, the bill specifies fees for in-flight hooliganism. The hooligans will have to pay from 100,000 rubles to 300,000 rubles /USD 1=RUB 32.7/ or to acquit themselves of a monthly salary over a period of twelve to twenty-four months. According to Izvestia, Russia’s Supreme Court has endorsed the text of the bill on the whole and recommended some small amendments based on international experience.