While the introduction of airline anti-smoking laws dates back to the mid-1980s (older movies sometimes surprise younger generations with scenes of someone casually lighting up a cigarette aboard a plane), the recent explosion of e-cigarette use has reignited what many once considered a nearly-settled problem of passengers trying to "sneak a puff."
One report from the Air Transport Association (IATA) says that the use of "cigarettes, e-cigarettes, vapes and 'puff devices' in the cabin or lavatories" has become the number one passenger non-compliance issue being reported to authorities in recent years. Flight attendants have also been ringing the alarm about passengers who get aggressive when told they cannot vape aboard the flight.
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The latter is precisely what happened on an American Airlines (AAL) flight from Milwaukee to Dallas-Fort Worth when a passenger in first-class pulled out a vaping device in view of everywhere onboard and then became aggressive with a flight attendant who told him to stop.
Passenger vaped in full sight, allegedly 'chased' flight attendant
"The warning allegedly antagonized the passenger, who accused the flight attendant of making false allegations against him before chasing the crew member into the forward gallery," reads the initial description by aviation website PYOK. "At this point, other passengers reportedly jumped up from their seats to protect the flight attendant, and the pilots decided to make an emergency diversion to Oklahoma, where the perpetrator could be deplaned."
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FlightAware data shows that American Airlines Flight 1733 was, in fact, rerouted to Tulsa and then proceeded to its destination in Texas a few hours later. American Airlines confirmed that the flight was "diverted to Tulsa, Okla. due to a disruptive customer" but denied reports of a flight attendant being attacked.
As is standard in such situations, the airline thanked the "team for their professionalism and apologize[d] to our customers for the inconvenience." The flight landed at Tulsa at 9:20 p.m. instead of the scheduled 5:27 p.m.
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These are some of the other vaping incidents to take place on planes in recent months
Multiple airlines and flight attendants who work for them have reported a spike in vaping-related incidents.
Back in March, a female Delta Air Lines (DAL) passenger was not allowed to board the flight after starting to vape on the jet bridge to the plane and becoming belligerent after being told that this was not allowed.
In a TikTok video that gathered over four million views, Colorado-based flight attendant Natalie Magee said that the "it's just steam" argument many passengers use to justify vaping does not actually work given that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) does not distinguish between cigarettes and e-cigarettes and treats both as a violation of anti-smoking laws.
Flight attendants have the ability to give passengers a warning if caught once or report it to the authorities if they continue to disregard the law to the point of endangering people aboard the flight.
"When you smoke or vape in the bathroom and you do not identify yourself and get caught, that airplane is grounded for a minimum of at least two hours because they have to do a complete overhaul of the systems and the engines," Magee explained.
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