A Belgian passenger has been sentenced to 10 months in prison after assaulting crew on a SWISS flight from Newark to Zurich and trying to force his way into the cockpit. The case adds another data point to the sector’s unruly-passenger risk profile, where cabin crew face both personal assault and security escalation in the same event.
Jan Daeninck, 43, received one year of supervised release and more than $73,000 in restitution after the March 2024 incident. Prosecutors said he grabbed a female flight attendant’s breasts, then kicked and beat the cockpit door in an attempt to enter, before punching a male flight attendant when crew intervened. The crew restrained him for the rest of the flight, and the aircraft returned to Newark after the disturbance.
For operators, the case reinforces the operational and legal exposure created when cabin disorder turns into cockpit-breach behavior.