These police officers really deserved their time off – even on the vacation plane they had to answer and overpower a rowdy passenger.
A couple, both police officers from Austria, were looking forward to their vacation in Canada. To do this, they boarded a Lufthansa plane in Frankfurt (D) on December 29, 2021 to fly to Vancouver. At first it looked like an ordinary flight. But after about two hours in the air, a passenger suddenly ticked off. He threatened the crew and “endangered the safety of the aircraft”, as the Ministry of the Interior in Vienna wrote in a message. It is not known why the man freaked out like that.
The pair of policemen turned to the pilot and asked what to do next. And so the mob passenger was finally overwhelmed by the two off-duty officers and fixed in his seat. When he arrived in Canada, the man was finally handed over to the authorities.
Praise from all sides for the effort
“Every disruptive passenger can seriously endanger the safety of a flight. I am proud of our two servants – their intervention was courageous, intelligent and courageous, »said Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (54) about the incident on board the machine. “This intervention shows once again how professional and committed the police officers are in Austria, even when they are off duty and during holidays.”
The airline thanked the police officers for their work on board. The Austrian Air Marshal Service, which is provided by officers from the Cobra Task Force, also praised the intervention of the two police officers. Safety is the top priority in aviation, so overpowering the man was the right decision, according to a senior officer at EKO Cobra. (jmh)