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Lately I've been on several flights where the flight attendants had to talk sternly to passengers that were getting up either just before landing or just after (which is quite obvious to everyone since the talking to is done over the PA system).

Now this made me wonder what FAs can do if the passenger just refuses to comply? Can FAs get up and forcefully seat passengers (would they have to talk to the pilot first to abort the landing)? If not, are there any circumstances where the FAs can/should/must unbuckle during a landing?

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  • $\begingroup$ Are you asking about a specific country or set of regulations? $\endgroup$
    – Pondlife
    Aug 16, 2018 at 23:51
  • $\begingroup$ @Pondlife: no, I was just curious, so I'm happy with answers for any country really (the more the merrier 🙂) $\endgroup$ Aug 20, 2018 at 13:08

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An FA is a member of the crew and can get up or sit down as they wish during any phase of the flight. As to what they can do, they can have the pax arrested the moment the aircraft door opens. If that is not a good reason to obey instructions, I don't know what is! If the pax becomes a threat to the safety of the flight, yes, they can certainly get physical to put an end to the situation and secure the cabin.

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    $\begingroup$ Plenty of passengers have been arrested due to doing stupid things, so I'm assuming the case of a really stupid passenger who is hellbent on being stupid. Anyways, thanks for the answer! $\endgroup$ Aug 20, 2018 at 13:16
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    $\begingroup$ The FA's are trained for that too. And remember, the likelihood these days is that there is at least one flight marshall on the aircraft, and sometimes more than one. Hellbent on stupid in that case will meet hellbent on "Meet my friends the thick nylon straps." The third point is that these days pax are no longer the sheep they used to be and will also get physically involved as well if necessary. $\endgroup$ Aug 21, 2018 at 8:16

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