FAA proposes $20K in fines for father, son who became unruly on Pittsburgh-bound flight

A father and son who were escorted off a Pittsburgh-bound flight by authorities in February face more than $20,000 in fines for what the Federal Aviation Administration described as unruly behavior.

The FAA reported that the son said, “I hope this plane (expletive) crashes,” as he was escorted off the flight before takeoff, while the father told flight attendants, “Imagine all of you in body bags,” as he was led off.

The FAA did not identify the men.

Their proposed fines — $10,315 for the son and $9,000 for the father — are among more than $1 million in total fines proposed by the FAA so far this year for unruly passenger behavior.

“The $1 million-plus in 2021 is the highest amount of fines we’ve proposed for unruly behavior in a single year,” an FAA spokesperson said.

Since the start of the year, the FAA said it has received just under 3,900 reports of unruly behavior by passengers, including nearly 2,900 reports of passengers refusing to comply with the federal mask mandate aboard planes.

The FAA released some details Thursday about 34 new cases where it had proposed fines totaling more than $530,000.

The father and son became unruly during boarding of an Allegiant Airlines flight from Orlando to Pittsburgh on Feb. 7, according to the FAA.

The agency said the son was approached about vaping inside the plane during the boarding process. He refused to stop vaping and began yelling at flight attendants, along with his father.

The father also is accused of loudly arguing with his wife during the boarding process.

The fines announced by the FAA are part of the agency’s zero tolerance campaign against unruly passenger behavior.

Earlier this month, the agency sent a letter to airports, imploring them to coordinate more closely with local law enforcement to prosecute “egregious cases.”

The agency also requested that airports work to prevent passengers from bringing “to-go” alcohol aboard planes.

“As the number of passengers traveling has increased, so has the number of unruly and unsafe behavior incidents on planes and in airports,” FAA officials wrote in the letter. “The FAA adopted a zero-tolerance policy toward this behavior on airplanes earlier this year, and we are taking the strongest possible action within our legal authority.”

The FAA has the power to levy civil fines against disruptive passengers, but they do not have criminal prosecution authority. Passengers for whom the FAA proposed fines have up to 30 days to respond to the agency.