South Korea’s unarmed air travel culture seems to be an impolite one, creating a dangerous situation for crew and passengers alike. Incidents of violence against cabin crew members are on the rise, and follows a somewhat high profile event where a KAL cabin crew was unable to contain an unruly passenger without some assistance. As Reuters reports:
In South Korea, the number of unlawful acts committed aboard airplanes has more than tripled over the past five years, according to government data.
South Korean police on Tuesday sought an arrest warrant for the passenger involved in the latest incident, identified by his surname Lim, on charges including inflicting injury to the crew and a passenger on the Vietnam to South Korea flight.
An airline spokesman said the man had consumed two and a half shots of whiskey during the flight.
The incident came to light when Marx said on Facebook and Twitter that he helped subdue “a psycho passenger attacking crew members and other passengers,” accusing crew members of being “ill-trained” and “ill-equipped” to handle the “chaotic and dangerous event”.
Korean Air Lines has decided to arm their cabin crews with stun guns to to handle disturbed, drunk, dangerous or otherwise unruly passengers. The airline has come to the same realization that polite society can be but a thin veneer. It doesn’t take much to scratch that layer away to reveal the violent truth about how badly people can and sometimes do react. In those situations it makes perfect sense to stack the deck and bring a (stun) gun to a fist fight.
Many gun owners use the bromide “when seconds count the police are just minutes away” to justify keeping and bearing arms. That argument holds true when the nearest airport is hours away on an overseas flight. When people get violent at 35,000 feet all you have to rely upon is yourself, cooperative passengers and crew, and your equipment. The better the equipment, the better.