Terrorism anxiety leaves some twitching for trouble

Air rage attacks, far from diminishing after the September 11 terrorist attacks, are on the increase, according to a leading psychiatrist.

Passengers, filled with attack anxiety, are now more likely than ever to lash out at fellow travellers and airline staff, says Dr Graham Lucas, an adviser to the British Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

This month he will tell a Royal Society of Medicine conference that "twitchy" passengers are now likely to react to anything that seems out of the ordinary.

Paradoxically, efforts to prevent terrorism could actually put safety in more jeopardy.

His claims are backed by Islamic groups that have catalogued a list of recent air rage attacks on Muslims.

One commentator said that Muslims were now afraid of going to the toilet on flights for fear of being "surrounded" by fellow passengers.

Dr Lucas, a consultant at the Priory Clinic in west London, who specialises in aviation psychiatry, said: "If there is a kerfuffle, passengers may well now suspect it's a terrorist incident rather than just some drunken person.

"That could lead to mass intervention, turning a small incident into a major confrontation, potentially endangering flight safety."

CAA numbers show air rage incidents are running at a similar level to those shown in the last properly analysed figures.

These showed there were 1250 air rage incidents on British airlines in the last March year.

But with passenger numbers down as much as 30 per cent, there should be a decrease in air rage incidents and that does not seem to be happening.

Professor Cary Cooper, a psychologist at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, said incidents were likely to rise.

Passengers would now drink more on planes to quell increased anxieties and in almost half of air rage cases, alcohol was "a contributory cause".

Passengers were now extra-sensitive to anything they perceive as unusual on a flight.

The bigger increase would be from passengers who were suspicious of other people's behaviour and would confront them.

"My real fear is anybody who behaves in a strange way on a plane is now at risk of attack."

Even the most innocuous may be targeted - especially if they are Arab or Asian.

Muslim News' database of Islamaphobic attacks since September 11 has charted six assaults, either physical or verbal, so far.

Its editor, Ahmed Versi, says many have gone unreported.

- INDEPENDENT