Tamera Jo Freeman was having a rough day. Her kids were out of control at the airport, they were too big to carry, and travelling is stressful. On her flight back in 2007, the kids were arguing over the window seat and knocked over her drink.
"I spanked each one of them three swats each on the back of the thigh. I feel a little bit bad about it because I know as a parent, I could have done better. I felt a little out of control at the time and I just wanted to get control of the situation."
Fellow passengers complained about what they later described as her 'verbal and physical abuse' of her children. The flight attendant confronted her, and a heated exchange took place. The flight attendant later said she took a 'defensive stance,' and felt threatened by Freeman.
Felony charge
The Federal Bureau of Investigation met Freeman when the plane landed. She thought she would explain her case, and go on to her connecting flight.
Instead, she was told that she would be charged with interfering with the flight crew, which is classed as a felony under revisions to the law made by the USA Patriot Act.
Freeman took a plea bargain and served three months in prison. She hasn't been able to see her children, she can't fly without court permission, and she believes her rights have been restricted by out of control flight security laws.
Drunk and violent
Millie Sellers was a flight attendant with a major U.S. airline for 40 years. She believes these laws are critical to protecting passengers and crew. In 2007, a man was drunk and disorderly on a flight from Tokyo to New York. He beat his wife until she bled, and threatened to kill one of the flight attendants.
According to Sellers, changes to the law protected her and the passengers. In the past, she says, airlines feared losing customers, and so sided with unruly or violent passengers. That's all changed since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Without these laws, Sellers says,
"we'd see another 9-11. Only it would be taking place inside of an airplane. You'd have more murders."
So is the law punishing people too harshly for temporary lapses of judgement while in the air?
Or are these kinds of laws critical in the fight against terrorism - and to protect passengers from any kind of violence?
Let us know your experience and thoughts in the form below.
Tags:
airline security,
Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Millie Sellers,
Tamera Jo Freeman,
USA Patriot Act
Hope Mock,
10-02-2009
- USA
Waiting in line for a Southwest flight leaving Las Vegas for Omaha, an older couple tried to squeeze to the front of the line to everyone's chagrin. Once aboard, this same couple (well into their eighties), planted themselves in the exit row, directly behind myself and my companion. A group of 20-something men were settling into seats, and one remarked, in a normal tone of voice, "we need a f-in' drink." The older couple complained to the stewardess about the foul language, and the reaction of that stewardess toward the young man was totally out of line. She enlisted another stewardess as her backup, and virtually brow-beat him; leaning into his face and yelling at him. Part of the dialogue went like this: "What do you do for a living?' Answer: I'm a Marine." "And that gives you a license to cuss?" (I'd say so). She went on and on about how he was drunk (he was not), and blah, blah, blah. This Marine took this abuse without raising his voice or being in any way disrepectable. When the aiirline security came and hauled him off the plane, I was in disbelief. I yelled out to the other passengers, "If you think that was unfair, raise your hand." Hands shot up around the cabin, but he was ushered off, not to be seen again. Speaking to our young seatmate (who hadn't raised her hand), she said she agreed iit was unfair, but didn't want to "get into trouble." By the way, the "drunk guy" companions? The same stewardess served them a total of three drinks each on the short flight to Omaha.
