Korean Air uses stun guns on unruly passengers

In December, cabin crew aboard a Korean Air flight from Hanoi to Seoul was unable to restrain an unruly drunk passenger who began attacking the crew and other passengers.

Several passengers had to get together to subdue the man, who was then handed over to police on landing.

American singer Richard Marx who was on board said the crew were "ill-prepared" for the event.

In response to Richard Marx's allegation of poorly trained staff, Korean Air said guidelines will be revised for crew to react "firmly and actively against in-flight violence."

Staff would be trained "to cope with violent acts and disturbances on board in a fast and efficient manner."

They invited the media to witness a training session where staff were being trained in using stun guns.

Reports stated that Korean Air used stun guns at least 5 times on unruly passengers aboard their aircraft.

The airline said they had made stun guns standard aboard all flights in light of increasing unruliness among passengers.

A recent incident aboard its aircraft was widely publicized after US singer Richard Marx had to intervene to subdue an unruly passenger.

The IATA said there had been a 17% increase in unruly behaviour and passengers aboard aircraft in 2016. These included incidents of people getting in fights, being verbally abusive or refusing to follow cabin crew orders.

11% of the cases involved physical abuse and damage to the aircraft. Drugs and alcohol were the cause in 25% of the cases.