At first glance a not very remarkable story. Australians being drunk and unruly has been a stereo-type since the 1960’s. I would have imagined that the Nanny-State that Australia has become might have softened that image but perhaps it is the very existence of the Nanny-State which gives more cause to rebel against authority and reinforces the “spoilt-brat” image.
A drunk passenger caused the closure of Bali’s airport and sparked a full-scale security alert when he attempted to enter the cockpit of a Virgin Australia flight from Brisbane to Denpasar, prompting the pilot to report a hijacking attempt.
Bali Air Force Commander Colonel Sugiharto, said the perpetrator was an Australian passenger named Matt Christopher Lockley, 28.
Australian Matt Christopher Lockley, a passenger of the Virgin flight, who is believed to have tried to enter the cockpit, is arrested by Indonesian military officers. Photo: Agung Parameswara – Getty Images
But the interesting aspect is that air-rage leading to unruly “passenger incident” is – based on population or passengers carried – more than 30 times more likely in Australia than the US.
Population: Australia 22.7 million; US 317 million
Air passengers (2012): Australia 65 million; US 735 million
Unruly Passenger Incidents (WSJ – 2011): Australia 488; US 192
Unruly Passenger Incidents per million passengers carried:
Australia – 7.5; USA – 0.26
World statistics are hard to come by but Australia probably leads the field in unruly airline passenger incidents.
Tags: Air rage, Matt Christopher Lockley, Unruly airline passenger incidents, Virgin Australia
The k2p blog 