Do Airline Crews Really Need Duct Tape for Unruly Passengers?

You can buy all the fancy tools you want, but if you have a coat hanger, WD-40 and duct tape you’re good for life.

Especially duct tape.

1,001 uses.

Now, apparently, 1,002.

Duct tape is getting its moment in the sun lately, for better or worse, as more and more airlines have resorted to using the oversized adhesive as a restraining device for unruly passengers during flight.

It’s been men.

It’s been women.

In one case, it was even a 13-year old who threatened to kick out a plane window.

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As with anything, the use of duct tape to literally tape someone to their seat – and, in at least one instance, to tape a passenger’s mouth – has caused arguments for and against the practice and has led to the query:

Is the use of duct tape really necessary?

Sorry but, yeah, it might be the last line of defense on planes.

I know all the arguments. Yes, flight crews are trained in defusing a situation. They are also trained in the use of self-defense, and in using less arcane tactics such as zip ties. And, of course, God forbid there’s an emergency landing, it’s a lot easier and quicker to get someone up and moving who only has plastic cuffs as opposed to being duct taped to a seat.

All valid arguments.

But there’s been a sea change in the way people act and disregard authority the last few years, a brazenness that is unprecedented. The physical altercations, the disrespect – flight attendants being groped, flight attendants losing teeth – are out of control.

“It’s common to use duct tape to secure a person who represents a threat to the flight or others,” Jeff Price, professor of aviation management at Metropolitan State University of Denver, told The Washington Post.

“The flight crew is responsible for cabin safety and has latitude on how to handle individual situations,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

What’s most disconcerting, however, is that the attacks and altercations show no sign of dissipating.

If duct tape is a reasonable final alternative to de-escalating a potential life-threatening situation, so be it.