The Federal Aviation Administration, frustrated by the increasing amount of passenger violence on commercial airline flights, is upping the consequences of such actions.
The agency, which has already handed out fines of up to $52,000, is now referring some of the most outrageous and dangerous examples of physical abuse to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), according to CNET and the FAA itself.
CNET, citing information from The Associated Press, noted that 37 incidents out of 227 initiated enforcement cases have been sent to the FBI.
That includes the recent incident of a passenger punching a flight attendant on an American Airlines flight, breaking two bones in her face.
In its tweet, the FAA said that the FBI's involvement in prosecuting cases is "a priority for both agencies."
Since the start of the year, almost 5,000 incidents of unruly passenger behavior have been reported to the FAA, more than 3,500 of them related to wearing face masks - a mandate that has been in place since the pandemic hit last year and won't be up for discussion again until January 18, 2022 - and many of them fueled by alcohol, a whole other problem.
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