THE typical plane passenger who carries out air rage is a male in his 30s who is angry at not being allowed to smoke, according to a new study.
The study also found that many of the incidents involve passengers travelling alone, with only a minority involving rowdy groups on board aircraft.
Research by Britain's air watchdog, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), analysed over 3,600 air ra
ge incidents since 2001 to find the typical profile of an air rage incident.
The main findings included:
• More than three-quarters (78%) of incidents involved male passengers.
• The largest single age group involved in offences were travellers in their 30s - accounting for 35% of incidents.
• About a third of examples involved people travelling on their own.
• Four out of 10 incidents involved passengers being banned from smoking.
• More than four in five smoking-related incidents involved smoking in the aircraft's toilet, often including an attempt to sabotage the smoke-detector there.
• Two-fifths of air rage incidents were connected to alcohol abuse, with a third of such events resulting from passengers bringing their own drink on the plane.
• Only 1% of occurrences happened in business or first class seating.
A British Airways source said: "The study turns the conventional image of air rage somewhat on its head. The idea that they are all groups of drunks is quite wrong; smoking is actually just as significant as a cause of air rage incidents."
The doctors, who were attending an International Civil Aviation Organisation conference on the health risks of international travel, heard that increasing numbers of passengers felt anxious about flying since the September 11, 2001 terror attacks and were drinking more on board as a result.
Excessive alcohol consumption has also been linked by many scientists to an increased risk of deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, triggered by potentially fatal blood clots caused by long periods of immobility. In some cases, DVT can be fatal.
In 2001, British Airways warned passengers that they faced being banned from flights for air rage. Passengers who are rude or aggressive to airport staff will be banned from boarding British Airways flights under new measures.
The airline's conditions of carriage were rewritten to warn customers that they would not be allowed to board their flights if they used "threatening, abusive or insulting words to ground staff or the crew".
In August, two Scottish tourists were held in a Greek prison after being arrested for an alleged drunken incident on a flight from Glasgow to Zakynthos. Graham McDonnell and Pieter Mienen, both from Renfrewshire, were arrested on charges of "endangering civil aviation".
Greek police said the men became rowdy and lashed out after being refused drink by flight attendants.
Last January, a British airliner flying from Cancun in Mexico to Manchester had to make a forced landing in Florida when a passenger allegedly became violent and abusive.
The Thomsonfly plane was diverted to Sanford Airport in Orlando following the disturbance on board.
In 2004, a drunk and abusive passenger received a nasty shock when he found his flight included members of the British police rugby league team on their way to New Zealand.
Cabin crew on the Singapore Airlines plane to New Zealand turned to the police contingent to deal with the man.
The drunk passenger was met by local police when the flight landed, but no charges were levelled against him.
In the same year, a Swansea businessman - Michael Jones - lit a cigarette and swore at flight crew. He also scuffled with fellow passengers aboard a 747 from Bangkok in Thailand and had to be handcuffed and strapped into his seat. Jones was jailed for six weeks.
In 2003, footballer turned actor Vinnie Jones was sentenced to community service and ordered to pay £1,100 for air rage offences.
The former Wimbledon midfielder became angry when fellow passenger Stephen Driscoll told him he was being "annoying" - sparking a tirade of "frightening" threats from the star.
Jones was given 80 hours' community service after admitting assault and using threatening words or behaviour towards members of an air crew.
In 2002, a number of leading doctors called for a ban on alcohol on board aircraft in order to stem air rage.
A spokesman for the British Air Transport Association said: "Air rage is an issue which the whole industry takes seriously, but it is important to get these incidents in context.
"They only affect a tiny minority of the flights in and out of the UK every year."
