'This is your captain speaking: Settle down!'

It was the airline equivalent of an exasperated parent yelling: “I will turn this car around, and we will go home if you don’t behave!”

After rowdy passengers repeatedly chanted “USA! USA! USA!” during an American Airlines flight Friday from Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., to Phoenix Sky Harbor, the pilot broke over the intercom with a warning for passengers to calm down for the rest of the three-and-a-half-hour flight.

“We’ll put this plane down in the middle of Kansas and dump people off; I don’t care,” said the pilot. “So, behave please.”

If that prompts your inner teenager to roll your eyes, some context helps. Many of the passengers were on their way home from the Jan. 6 protests in Washington, D.C., and the violent and deadly riot by supporters of President Trump at the U.S. Capitol that attempted to halt Congress’ tally of the electoral college votes, the final official acknowledgement of the election win by President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, prior to Wednesday’s inauguration. Along with their boisterousness, many of the chanting passengers had refused to wear face masks as required by the airline’s covid-19 precautions and the urging of the plane’s crew.

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Airlines, federal lawmakers and the Federal Aviation Administration are about to crack down even harder on rebellious passengers, and we’re not talking about withholding bags of complimentary pretzels.

The FAA announced Monday that causing a risk to safety aboard a flight could result in jail time or a fine up to $35,000.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/editorial-this-is-your-captain-speaking-settle-down/