this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2024
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According to the Australian Federal Police, a then-32-year-old man from Western Australia was disruptive on a flight headed from Perth to Sydney. As a result, the plane had to turn around and go back to Perth, which meant that the pilot was forced to dump some fuel to land.

Now, the passenger has been ordered to pay $8,630 AUD ($5,806 USD) back to the airline to cover the cost of the wasted fuel. The Perth Magistrate Court also fined him $6,055, meaning that his mid-air misbehavior has a total price tag of $11,861 – likely many times higher than whatever h

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 days ago

The story in the article about the guy who tried to get into the cockpit is amazing... he's lucky he didn't get himself killed by the other passengers. Since that little incident twenty years ago even Granny will chew on your face if it looks like you're pulling that shit.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 days ago

Neither the man nor the airline was publicly named, nor was it specified exactly what he did to earn such a hefty penalty.

Why the hell not? I feel like it's weird for this information to not be public in a case like this-- In this same article, there are three examples of other incidents where the details are known.

Phrases like the passenger "was disruptive," and “It’s far simpler to obey the directions of airline staff than cause unnecessary issues, which can end up hitting you in the hip pocket” seem weirdly euphemistic to me.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 days ago (3 children)

So does "dump fuel" literally mean "sprinkle a large volume of jet fuel over a large swathe of countryside?" Does it become diffuse enough that the environmental impact is negligible, or do we get a big splash that kills everything in an AoE?

Like... I'm surprised the fuel cost is the focus here, and not the environmental impact of releasing jet fuel just... into the air I guess? But maybe it doesn't work the way I'm picturing.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 days ago (1 children)

That's exactly right. But much evaporates or is diffused over such a large area that no one particular piece of land gets a significant amount.

The alternative is landing overweight, risking potential damage or failure to the aircraft's landing gear, full of human lives, while still full of the explodey stuff.

The other alternative is designing planes to land at heavier weights, resulting in every other flight being less efficient.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago

Thanks... Yeah that makes sense. I can understand that sometimes the trade-off would make dumping fuel the right choice... I just wonder if the environmental impact factor in.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 days ago

Dumping fuel is not uncommon.

The plane needs to be a certain weight to land and so fuel burn is calculated into that.

Obviously planes don't intend to dump fuel but there are unforeseen circumstances which mean necessitate this.

It's hard to say but I should imagine dilution, has a large impact on any sort of environmental concerns.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago

jet fuel isn't dumped that rarely, it diffuses over an enormous area and isn't significantly harmful to the ground, but is a greenhouse "gas" source iirc.

[–] [email protected] 112 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Get this in America.

One unruly passenger should not have the power to control 300 other flyers' plans.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago

They should outfit planes with brigs.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 week ago (20 children)

They could cure a lot of it, if they stopped serving alcohol in the terminals or on the plane.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

They'll never do that. Drug dealing is too lucrative and alcohol is the western world's favorite poison.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

As a person who likes to drink a beer to take the edge off, meh.

You don't need alcohol or drugs to be a disruptive asshole.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago

You don't need alcohol or drugs to be a disruptive asshole

But it makes it easier. It's like a cheat code for dickhead, and bonuses stack with maga hat, tobacco of any kind, dodge ram keys or any clothing without sleeves.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago
[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Do you want mass murder? Because taking away a republican’s right to get drunk and express their anger for not being served first is unconstitutional, and against the principles in which this country was founded. Liberty and justice for me.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Eh... Alcohol doesn't care about party lines

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago

Tell that to the Conga! CHECKKKMMATEEE!!!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago

Alcohol doesn't care about party lines

But it does flow downhill.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (4 children)

Hey, man. I’m blue, through and through, but don’t touch my right to get fucking wasted in the middle of the day, or morning, at an airport. You down to tussle? Because I’m throwing hands.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago

Daba dee, daba di.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 week ago (2 children)

What's the point of taking a vacation if I don't get to send my coworkers pictures of my airport mimosa as they're clocking in at 8am?

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago

Please dont take one of the remaining socially acceptable places to get absolutely blitzed before noon. Football tailgates are only in the fall

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[–] [email protected] 74 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Honestly that’s way less than it should be given how much other passengers were inconvenienced. That might be harder to quantify the value of, though, I suppose.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 week ago

can start by reinbursing all passengers 3x their ticket value

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[–] [email protected] 63 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The single highest individual penalty, $40,823, was issued to a traveler who brought their own alcohol on board, was intoxicated, attempted to smoke marijuana in the lavatory, and sexually assaulted a flight attendant – all in a single flight.

Elon? You flying commercial these days?

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 week ago (1 children)

They said alcohol, not ketamine

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 days ago

Maybe it was just to wash down some Ambien.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 week ago (2 children)

The article doesn’t say why the pilot had to dump fuel to land. Was this because the plane needed to be lighter (dumping what would have otherwise been consumed)? If anyone can provide context that’d be appreciated.

[–] [email protected] 62 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Airplanes are usually limited to land at only around half of the total weight they can take off with.

This isn't normally a problem for normal trips.

If they went to a higher landing weight, the landing gear struts would have to be designed quite a bit stronger. This would make the landing gear heavier, and that would reduce the useful payload weight in the plane.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Half the weight of a plane is the fuel??

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

A350-900

Maximum takeoff weight: 283 tonnes

Maximum landing weight: 207 tonnes

Manufacturers' empty weight: 115.7 tonnes

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 week ago

They dump fuel so they can safely land due to weight, as you guessed. In this case it was a cross-country trip, so the plane had a fair amount of fuel that needed to be offloaded.

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