Thomson Airways Passenger Unruly

Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Bostjan Henigaman

What: Thomson Airways Boeing 737-800 en route from Cardiff to Las Palmas
Where: en route
When: Jan 25th 2010
Who: 186 passengers and 7 crew
Why: While en route, one of the passengers apparently suffered a panic attack, and attempted to enter the cabin, having to be restrained by crew and passengers.

The passenger was taken into custody on landing.

If this does turn out to be the case of a mental disorder (panic attack), one wonders what new steps will be taken to reduce incidents of this type. It seems as if unruly passengers are on the rise. Is it the reporting of the events that has changed or are passengers themselves changing, devolving into having less self-control? It seems like a trend-but what does it mean?

Or is there a simpler answer? Is it that earlier generations of fliers respected planes more?