Korean Air Unruly Passengers to Face Stun Guns, More Force

To combat unruly passengers' behavior, Korean Air Lines will now allow stun guns, devices to tie up violent passengers, and banning people with a history of unruly behavior following a Dec. 20 incident that caused injuries to the crew and a passenger.

Unlawful acts have more than tripled aboard Korean Air Lines during the past five years, Reuters reported, based on government data.

While airlines in the U.S. and other countries have taken firm action on dealing with disorderly passengers following the 9/11 attacks, Asian airlines “have not imposed tough standards because of Asian culture,” Korean Air President Chi Chang-hoon said at a news conference, according to Reuters.

The latest guidelines, which also include better staff training and hiring more male flight attendants, resulted from an incident on a Korean Air flight from Vietnam to South Korea. South Korean police issued an arrest warrant for a man identified only by the surname Lim on charges of injuring the crew and a passenger.

The man, in his early 30s, allegedly drank two and a half shots of whiskey during the flight, according to an airline spokesman, Reuters reported.

The incident was captured on video and posted on YouTube, showing someone in business class swearing and spitting at crew members. He had to be restrained by crew members with a rope.

Richard Marx, the 1980s pop star, helped restrain the perpetrator.

“A completely ill-prepared and untrained crew for a situation like this,” Marx wrote on his Facebook page, adding the “psycho passenger” spent four hours attacking the crew and other passengers.

A statement from Korean Air defended the method of using a rope rather than a Taser because “the safety of the other passengers” was considered, CNN reported. The airline has since decided to loosen its stun gun policy in the wake of the viral incident.

Crews had access to Tasers but could only use them if the lives or physical safety of passengers were at risk. There will now be “more active use” of stun guns, an airline spokesman told CNN.

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