A video showing Israeli passengers on their way to Varna, Bulgaria, verbally threatening a flight attendant went viral on Sunday. The video, filmed by a passenger on an Israir flight from Tel Aviv to Varna on Thursday, shows an argument over duty-free chocolate between a passenger and a flight attendant erupting and coming close to spiraling into physical violence. "This is not the first time I have had to suffer verbal violence from passengers, but this time it was extreme," Israir flight attendant Nir Lebov said later. "Even before the flight, they [the passengers in question] showcased disorderly behavior, to say the least, and it continued going downhill from there." The problematic passengers were a group of six who boarded the plane with two bottles of alcohol. Even though a stewardess asked them not to drink, they did so and behaved loudly and rudely, ignoring attendants' requests to calm down and behave themselves. The other passengers were afraid to meddle, but one of them recorded the raucous behavior. "When we came out with the duty-free cart, the group had already crossed every line of good taste and so we decided to stop the sale and approached the cockpit to ask one of the pilots for his guidance, and then the incident in question occurred," Lebov said. The video showed a woman demanding that Lebov sell her chocolate. After Lebov refused, the woman shouted at him to sell her the chocolate, saying that she bought a ticket and thus Lebov "works for" her. As the confrontation escalated, another woman, identified as the first woman's sister, yelled, "Sell her the chocolate!" and "You're a piece of trash!" The husband of one of the women got up and seemed ready to confront the steward physically, but was restrained by another passenger. "There are often conflicts between passengers and the crew, but this was an unusual case, one that you could never tolerate," Lebov said. According to aviation law, every person in an aircraft is required to follow the instructions of the captain or crew member designated by the captain to ensure security and safety of the aircraft, the passengers, the crew and the baggage. Upon their arrival in Varna, Bulgarian police questioned the passengers suspected of causing the disturbance, but they were not charged with any crime and were allowed to continue with their vacation. Israir Airlines CEO Uri Sirkis commended the flight attendant for stopping the sale and informing the captain. "The issue of unruly passengers is a common phenomenon in international aviation," Sirkis said. "One in 700 flights is forced to make an unplanned landing to deal with such passengers. In these cases, the procedures are very clear and one needs to assess whether the crew and aircraft are in danger." As of now, Israir has not pressed charges against the passengers. A final decision will be made after the investigation is concluded. "We are not the police; our job is fly people around the world," Sirkis said. According to attorneys Ron Gant and Gadi Elbaz, who specialize in aviation law, every person inside an aircraft is required to follow the instructions of the captain and crew. Failure to behave appropriately can lead to one year in prison and up to five years if a passenger jeopardizes aircraft security. The passenger who started the quarrel said, "This was a mistake and we apologized for our part in the fight. Both sides said terrible things in the heat of the argument and we all made a sincere apology to Israir and the passengers. Our trip was ruined, there was a great disappointment, and the lesson was learned."
Passengers threaten flight attendant over chocolate
Argument over duty-free chocolate between passengers, flight attendant on Israir flight comes close to spiraling into violence • Flight attendant: "This is not the first time I have had to suffer verbal violence from passengers, but this was extreme."
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