Elderly woman, 78, charged with assault for hitting co-flyer and biting flight attendant's arm after altercation
GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA: A 78-year-old woman has been charged with assault after it was alleged that she bit an airline attendant's arm during a flight. The woman was one of 49 travelers who were charged as a result of the Australian Federal Police's (AFP) investigation from December 20 to January 29.
During the busy holiday season, a police blitz targeting criminal behavior in Australia's major airports resulted in the woman's arrest. Police reported that the woman reportedly punched another passenger in the face during an argument onboard board the aircraft on January 29 as she was traveling from New Zealand to the Gold Coast, as reported by 9News.
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Why did the woman bite the flight attendant's arm?
According to police, the woman was on a flight from New Zealand to the Gold Coast on January 29, 2023, when she allegedly punched another passenger in the face during an argument. The woman allegedly bit the arm of a flight attendant who then tried to intervene in the argument. Her next court appearance is planned for April.
What was Operation Sleigh?
To stop offensive, disruptive, and illegal behavior both in the air and on the ground, an operation called Operation Sleigh was launched. The focused effort began after officials in Australia dealt with roughly 20,000 incidents at airports under AFP protection in the previous year.
Another 24 persons received infringement notices for being intoxicated, acting offensively or unruly, causing a commotion, and disobeying airline personnel instructions.
More than 360 people were accused of committing roughly 520 offenses at Australian airports in 2022. When compared to the same holiday period last year, Operation Sleigh saw more rude passengers, according to AFP Commander Geoff Turner.
"In recent months we have seen thousands more passengers traveling through airports across Australia, as state and international borders reopened after the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions," Turner said. He continued, "The AFP was more than prepared to manage the expected spike in passenger numbers, with increased patrols resulting in teams responding to a range of incidents to assist the traveling public across the country."
MEAWW earlier reported on Saturday morning, September 24, a Southwest Airlines customer was accused of physically and verbally attacking a woman sitting behind him on a flight from Orlando to Phoenix.
Faraaz Sareshwala, a Google software engineer from California, took to social media to describe an incident in which a man in front of his wife Saarah allegedly "violently pushed his seat back" multiple times in an attempt to physically harm her while making "racial slurs (and) misogynistic comments." Faraaz claimed his wife was asleep with her head on the tray area when she was awoken by the alleged outburst, which was allegedly observed by her seatmates. She was first oblivious to what had occurred and got up to use the restroom, but when she returned to her seat, she was informed of the occurrence.