First case of Drunk on an Aeroplane in NZ

[Dave Homewood]

DRUNK ON AEROPLANE

FIRST CASE OF KIND

FLASK OF WHISKY CARRIED

AIRWAYS PASSENGER FINED

[BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] NELSON, Wednesday

What was probably the first case under the Air Navigation Act of a passenger being drunk in an aeroplane was before the Magistrate's Court this morning, when a passenger on Cook Strait Airways was fined £5, in default seven days' imprisonment. The charge was that, being a passenger in a Cook Strait Airways' aeroplane, he was in a state of intoxication in the aircraft.

He was also charged with being drunk in a public place, and on this charge he was convicted and discharged.

Senior-Sergeant Petersen said the defendant joined the aeroplane at Greymouth, and on his way up he was seen drinking from a flask of whisky. On arrival at Stoke he was in a state of drunkenness. The offence was regarded seriously, and defendant was liable to six months' imprisonment or a fine of £200, or both. The magistrate said he believed the carrying of liquor in aeroplanes was prohibited. The senior-sergeant pointed out that it might have caused a serious accident.

The defendant said he was sober when he went on the aeroplane. The magistrate remarked that that was worse. If he had been drunk before he would not have been allowed on. The defendant was so drunk that he had to be assisted out of the aeroplane, said the senior-sergeant. The magistrate said he thought it was a case for gaol, but he decided to impose the fine as stated.


NEW ZEALAND HERALD, 23 JUNE 1938

[Dave Homewood]

£5 is the equivalent of $611.06 now.

£200 is the equivalent of $24,442.53 now.

What is the maximum penalty now?

[thomarse]

$5000 for boarding like it but only $3000 for getting like it when on board? Can't see the difference myself

[Dave Homewood]

Gosh, so much softer than the 1938 penalty. Interesting.

[falcon124]

Don't forget, you had to be rich to fly back then and aviation was treated with respect (in general) given how much it cost to fly anywhere.

These days with fares cheaper than the taxi to the airport, I suspect you'll find that a number of those getting hit with the current fines would be in a similar world of hurt (if not more-so) than those in the past

[tbf2504]

Gentlemen to wear suits and ladies height of fashion and a hat!

[falcon124]

Feb 14, 2023 11:39:16 GMT 12 tbf2504 said:

Gentlemen to wear suits and ladies height of fashion and a hat!

100%

When people bemoan the lack of space, service & "quality of passengers" when flying these days, just point out that they can have all that if they fly first class as that sort of spend is representative of what it cost 30-50 years ago to fly anywhere

[madmax]

I don't believe you are immune to that behaviour in first-class either these days. Recently a passenger in first-class on an Indian airline aircraft, cannot recall name of the carrier, urinated over a fellow traveller. At least the chap on the Cook Straits Airways flight didn't go that far

[davidd]

Fair point!

[falcon124]

Feb 14, 2023 18:59:07 GMT 12 madmax said:

I don't believe you are immune to that behaviour in first-class either these days. Recently a passenger in first-class on an Indian airline aircraft, cannot recall name of the carrier, urinated over a fellow traveller. At least the chap on the Cook Straits Airways flight didn't go that far

Yes, and it got the pilot and airline in a lot of trouble for how they handled it (hint: they didn't do anything).

While it's true that you can still get poor behaviour in first class (drunk Russian diplomat who woke up & decked the cabin crew guy who was clearing his meal tray away, the super model standing up while in the middle of the Pacific & demanding a Big Mac, etc ), generally everyone's pretty well behaved up that end of the tube.

Of course, to get the real feel of service, quality and massive price, go bizjet

[Dave Homewood]

Feb 15, 2023 19:50:21 GMT 12 falcon124 said:

the super model standing up while in the middle of the Pacific & demanding a Big Mac

She must have thought she was onboard that KLM Boeing 747 back in the 1990's that had a small but fully operational McDonalds restaurant on the top deck. I saw a photo and write up of that in a magazine about 30 years ago, have never found evidence of it in the modern era of the internet though.

[versuch]

Dave, that KLM 747 must have been flying the Atlantic routes, as I was a member of the handling agents in MEL at that time, and I am sure we would have heard about it !

[falcon124]

Feb 19, 2023 22:44:29 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

She must have thought she was onboard that KLM Boeing 747 back in the 1990's that had a small but fully operational McDonalds restaurant on the top deck.

That's rather amazing if so!

But no, in this case, the word from cabin crew is that she was coming down hard off her drugs. Ooops