DISPAX World commences with three crewmembers’ accounts of unruly incidents, followed by a myth-busting session in which the organisers aim to quash some of the myths being disseminated in aircrew security training. We start with the Tokyo Convention. Is there really blanket immunity from prosecution when it comes to the management of unruly passengers? Are crew assuming that ‘immunity from prosecution’ equates with ‘immunity from litigation’?
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Then we explore whether a passenger, once restrained, may be physically restrained to their seat. Many airlines tell their crews that this is illegal as it could impede the passenger’s ability to disembark the aircraft in the extremely unlikely event of an emergency landing or ditching.
The session concludes with an analysis of whether alcohol, narcotics and medication really do have a greater impact aboard an aircraft flying at altitude than they do on the ground.
Xenophobia is the wake of a pandemic is next up. COVID-19 exerted a heavy price on the industry, but it also changed the way in which we interact with each other. Daniela Modonesi, representing the European Transport Workers Federation, looks back at the pandemic and considers its legacy in terms of passenger behaviour.
Xenophobia is prevalent in society and the aircraft cabin is a microcosm of society in the skies. Small wonder then that, in a restricted space, political disagreements, and racist, bigoted, and antisemitic outbursts impact good order on board. Harel Peled will be exploring the broad range of geopolitical factors fuelling aggression one can often readily avoid or escape from on the ground but which aircrew have to manage aloft.
The topic of illegal migration is a constant in the world’s media as many desperate individuals risk their lives to cross borders, seas and rivers in search of safety or greener pastures. Some elect to travel by air and, as Osprey Flight Solutions’ Alexandra James will be demonstrating, there is a worryingly emerging phenomenon of avion patera flights in which illegal migrants fake incidents on board aircraft in order to cause the crew to divert and, once on the ground, escape the aircraft en masse.
And then it’s the flight deck perspective! A veteran of the aviation industry begs the question to what extent the industry is, itself, responsible for the surge in unruly passenger incidents. Retired Qantas pilot Trevor Jensen argues that in many cases, despite protestations to the contrary, airline management is prepared to accept air-rage events as a cost of doing business.
Capt. Tom Oude Vrielink – representing both IFALPA and the European Cockpit Association - explores the relationship between the tech crew and the cabin given the fact that the door should remain closed during an unruly pax incident. How does the Commander assess the risk? How much do they rely on the flight attendants? How can they determine - if asked - whether to sanction the use of restraint devices? When is a diversion appropriate? To what extent does the likelihood of the pax being prosecuted impact their decision-making process?
Another paper focuses on subsequent actions that may be taken by the flight deck to ensure that there is an appropriate ground response once the aircraft lands. Chief Constable Daniel António de Sousa Magalhães, representing AIRPOL, will discuss issues relating to the communication between the flight deck and both air traffic control and law enforcement.
Our mental health session commences with a look at suicidal ideation – from a pilot’s perspective. The loss of a Germanwings flight as a result of aircraft-assisted suicide brought the issue of pilot mental health to the forefront of our attention, but it wasn’t the first – or the last – such tragedy. Since 9/11, more lives have been lost on board aircraft as a result of pilot suicide than terrorism, so Aleksandra Kapela discusses how fellow crewmembers might identify the indicators of the ultimate deadly passenger boarding their flight.
Modernising aircrew mental health awareness training is the subject Air Astana’s Madina Issabayeva will be tackling. How can aircrew change their understanding of mental health through more sophisticated training?
Consensual sexual relations in the aircraft cabin may be a question of scruples, but the incidents of sexual assault are far more than examples of unruly behaviour. But are people more inclined to perpetrate paraphilic acts in the air due to their being in ‘non-space’ and a belief that they are divorced from the laws of planet Earth? Dr. Ross Bartels considers this question and will be providing delegates with an understanding of acts of frotteurism, toucherism, exhibitionism and other sexually deviant acts that constitute a crime.
A recent survey, conducted by the Japan Federation of Aviation Industry Unions, illustrated the frequency with which Japanese flight attendants are victims of acts of upskirting, downblousing and unauthorised, yet invasive, photography. The Chair of the Federation, Akira Naito, accompanied by Dr. Mizuki Urano, shares with delegates why the study was conducted, the results established and the course of action they are embarking upon to ensure the protection of flight attendants from the actions of voyeurs.
We don’t really want to be resolving unruly passenger incidents in the skies. The aim is, surely, to deter or prevent potential perpetrators from boarding aircraft in the first place. Day two of DISPAX World starts with a look at initiatives being implemented to ensure that is the case.
The European Union’s Aviation Safety Agency has been at the forefront of the industry’s attempts to stem the tide of unruly behaviour. As John Franklin showcases, this summer EASA has launched a fresh Unruly Passenger Campaign with the goal of encouraging collaboration across industry stakeholders and improving both communication and the passenger experience to minimise the likelihood of unruly passengers boarding aircraft.
The second presentation will focus on the initiatives developed by the conference hosts – Prague Airport. Due to the increasing number of unruly passengers, the airport has established a working group composed of stakeholders to find ways to prevent such incidents and to respond adequately in case they do occur.
And then there’s the issue of deterrence. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), as the primary entity representing the world’s major carriers, has been championing global initiatives to ensure that position papers, agreements and conventions are more than impotent declarations and actually do have real legislative bite. Irene Patanè will set out the state of play of the key legal instruments and illustrate their impact on ensuring that perpetrators of criminal acts aboard aircraft are successfully prosecuted, thereby enhancing the deterrent value penalties are designed to ensure.
DISPAX World aims to share best practices when it comes to crew training. In Prague, four different carriers – SAS, Air Inuit, Smartwings and AirBaltic – will be sharing their approaches to ensure aircrew capability to respond appropriately. The topics: corporate responsibility, diffusing situations, determining the necessity for restraint and post-incident response.
And restraint is the subject for the final afternoon. With Queen Mary University London set to launch its MSc programme, ‘Enhancing the Safety and Wellbeing of Persons in Care and Custody Online’, three of the university’s course lecturers will be providing a coordinated inflight perspective on behavioural interventions, physical interventions and restraint and consider what the aviation industry can learn from other sectors.
This includes an examination of the medical conditions that can present as challenging behaviour and introduces the topic of acute behavioural disturbance. We’ll be analysing safety issues connected with restraint and consider to what extent we can use pain compliance to maintain control, and exploring biomechanical considerations of physical interventions in a confined space. What works and what doesn’t when it comes to joint immobilisation and locks? And, how does one safely transition from the use of manual holds to the application of restraint devices?
And to conclude, delegates will have the opportunity to see demonstrations of two of the latest unruly passenger restraint kits – the Quik-Restraint System from Passenger Safe and the Lapaj from Pelta s.r.o.
Much to consider …and many reasons to join the debate. To register, visit www.dispax.world (and note that the Early Booking Rate ends today at 1730)
DISPAX World
DISPAX World 2023 is the 4th international conference on unruly passenger management and restraint. Its overall aim is to increase awareness and knowledge regarding the causal factors of disruptive behaviour, share best practices between carriers, and to provide a forum in which industry professionals can discuss innovative techniques for the improvement of the quality of training afforded crew to both prevent incidents escalating in the first place and, should that fail, to ensure they have the skillsets to manage aggression and violence in the skies.
The fourth edition of the conference – being the first in the post-pandemic era - will be addressing:
Best practice in aircrew security training;Quashing myths associated with the causes of unruly behaviour;Responsibility of airlines to address foreseeable risk;Airport best practice in unruly pax management;Xenophobia and extremism in the aircraft cabin;Biomechanical considerations in physical interventions;Faked disruptive behaviour to disguise other criminal acts;Sexually abusive behaviour towards crew and fellow passengers; and,Demonstrations of restraint kitsDISPAX World 2023 will take place at Prague Airport’s Congress Hall.
Green Light Ltd. is a London-based security training and consultancy company that specialises in aviation security and, in particular, the delivery of training courses on Inflight Security and Unruly Passenger Management and Restraint.
Green Light organised DISPAX World conferences in 2009 (Istanbul), in 2014 (London) and in 2019 (London). Other events organised by Green Light have included: Body Search 2015 (London); Inflight Emergency Response 2016 (Riga); Behavioural Analysis 2018 (Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales), Behavioural Analysis 2019 (Mall of America, Minneapolis, USA), Behavioural Analysis Week Online 2020 (Online, Global) and Behavioural Analysis 2022 (University of Northampton, UK) and Behavioural Analysis 2023 (Prague Airport, Czech Republic)
