ALFREDO RIVERA via REUTERS
- Recent videos show flight attendants using duct tape to restrain unruly passengers amid record flight violence.
- Some flight attendants told Insider using duct tape could interfere with emergency evacuation.
- But flight attendants are trained to do whatever they can to protect the cabin and flight deck.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
As violence on aircrafts continues to plague the travel industry, many flight attendants are using duct tape to restrain aggressive passengers.
Frontier and American flight attendants used duct tape to restrain passengers attacking crew members and screaming obscenities. Another flight attendant on an American Airlines flight duct-taped a 13-year-old boy to his seat after he reportedly attempted to kick out the window of an aircraft.
Flight attendants told Insider though duct tape keeps violent passengers from endangering others in a pinch, taping people to chairs can interfere with emergency evacuation. Many flight attendants said they were trained to use other restraints, like zip ties or flex-cuffs, as well as duct tape.
Before using any physical restraints, flight attendants are trained to de-escalate situations by verbally calming down aggressive passengers, one Chicago-based flight attendant said. (Some flight attendants asked to keep their name and airline anonymous to speak freely. Insider confirmed the employment of each flight attendant prior to publishing.)
But in situations where a traveler poses a physical level of threat – if they are hitting others or threatening to harm themselves or the plane – she said flight attendants are trained to use restraints like tape or zip ties.
The Chicago-based flight attendant said she has never had to tape a passenger herself, but added restraints are meant to be temporary and the person presenting danger should taken out of the plane as soon as possible.
The Federal Aviation Administration has investigated 600 unruly passenger reports this year - nearly double the combined total of reports in 2019 and 2020. Many aggressive incidents involve disagreements over wearing face masks, and some flight attendants have been punched, groped, spat at, and verbally abused this year due to the tension on board.
A Dallas-based flight attendant, who works for a major carrier, said crew members on her airline don't use duct tape because they have zip ties. She said using duct tape as a restraint was not part of her official training, but some flight attendants may carry the tape on their person and use it in a threatening situation.
The flight attendant stressed crew members should not secure unruly passengers to any part of the aircraft because they cannot evacuate under 90 seconds and could keep others from leaving the plane.
"Duct tape is a big violation in my opinion due to safety issues," the flight attendant said. "It's a very, very last resort."
Nas Lewis, a flight attendant and the founder of the mental health resource group th|AIR|apy, said crew members are trained to protect the cabin and flight deck at all costs, even if that means using physical restraint. She had been trained to use duct tape or seatbelt extenders to restrain unruly passengers without tying them to the seat.
Lewis stressed the job can be dangerous, but flight attendants are not "glorified waitresses" - they are trained to react to threat and stimuli.
"We are first responders up there and the respect is lacking," she said.