Korean Air crew members are now permitted to use stun guns as a means of managing in-flight disturbances that become too unruly. The airlines announced its new guidelines on Tuesday after American musician Richard Marx criticized the airline for failing to control an aggressive passenger on his flight. Marx called the Korean Air flight crew “ill-trained” for being unable to subdue the violent male passenger — identified only by his surname Lim — on the Seoul-bound flight.
The 34-year-old Lim, who was sitting in close proximity to the American singer, began showing some violent behavior after having had about two and a half shots of whisky. During the flight that took off from Hanoi, Lim pulled a flight attendant’s hair and continued to exhibit anger while other attendants struggled in trying to tie him up with a rope. The incident is reported to have lasted four hours.
After the incident, Marx issued a statement.
“My wife and I are safe but one crew member and two passengers were injured. The all-female crew was clueless and not trained as to how to restrain this psycho,” Marx wrote on Facebook. “Korean Air should be sanctioned for not knowing how to handle a situation like this without passenger interference.”
Korean Air President Chi Chang-hoon said Tuesday, “While U.S. carriers have taken stern action on violent on-board behavior following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 (2001), Asian carriers including us have not imposed tough standards because of Asian culture.”
We will use the latest incident to put safety foremost and strengthen our safety standards,” Chang-hoon continued.
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