Domestic flight paths over foreign territory?

Last time I flew from DC to Detroit I has a window seat, and as we
descended, I noticed that we flew over the Detroit River from east to
west, which means, of course, that we were flying over Winsdor,
Ontario and that a decent chunk of of "domestic" US flight passed over
Canadian airspace. Are there any legal ramifications of this fact? If
I were to, say (just as a theoretical point, mond you), commit air
rage while over Canada, would I be prosecuted under Candian or US law?
If the Ontario drinking age is 18, could an 18-year old buy a drink
while the plane was flying over Canada, even though the drinking age
is 21 in all of the US states? Shouldn't we have to pass through
Customs when we arrived at Detroit? And we ought to be able to buy
stuff from the duty-free shop!

Ted

Ted Herzl wrote:

If I were to, say (just as a theoretical point, mond you), commit air
rage while over Canada, would I be prosecuted under Candian or US law?

It would depend on where the aircraft landed.

If the Ontario drinking age is 18, could an 18-year old buy a drink
while the plane was flying over Canada, even though the drinking age
is 21 in all of the US states?

Perhaps, in theory. However, the airline would be unlikely to serve you,
since the cabin crew probably doesn't know where they aircraft is.

I recall a court case where a plains state, Kansas, if I recall
correctly, tried to extract a tax out of all airlines to pay for the
alcohol served while aircraft were flying over the state. They lost.

However, they arrested an Amtrak conductor because their trains served
alcohol to passengers without paying a Kansas tax while their trains
were passing through the state. I can't recall hearing how the court
case went.

Shouldn't we have to pass through Customs when we arrived at Detroit?

The US considers those to be domestic flights if they don't touch down
in a foreign country. Otherwise, a foreign carrier could fly the route
and claim it wasn't Cabotage, which is prohibited under the Passenger
Transport Act.

Yet cruise ships often went on "cruises to nowhere" to get beyond the 12
mile territorial limit, which then allowed them to have gambling aboard.

I suppose there is a rationale to all of this somewhere.

And we ought to be able to buy stuff from the duty-free shop!

As above, they are considered domestic flights.

"James Robinson" wrote in message
...
Ted Herzl wrote:

If I were to, say (just as a theoretical point, mond you), commit air
rage while over Canada, would I be prosecuted under Candian or US law?

It would depend on where the aircraft landed.

If the Ontario drinking age is 18, could an 18-year old buy a drink
while the plane was flying over Canada, even though the drinking age
is 21 in all of the US states?

Perhaps, in theory. However, the airline would be unlikely to serve you,
since the cabin crew probably doesn't know where they aircraft is.

I think it would depend on what country the aircraft is registered in.
If
its a USA aircraft, it would be 21, but if the aircraft were a foreign
registered aircraft, it would be the drinking age in that country.

"Hilary" wrote in message
...
If I were to, say (just as a theoretical point, mond you), commit air
rage while over Canada, would I be prosecuted under Candian or US law?

It would depend on where the aircraft landed.

If the Ontario drinking age is 18, could an 18-year old buy a drink
while the plane was flying over Canada, even though the drinking age
is 21 in all of the US states?

Perhaps, in theory. However, the airline would be unlikely to serve you,
since the cabin crew probably doesn't know where they aircraft is.

I think it would depend on what country the aircraft is registered
in. If its a USA aircraft, it would be 21, but if the aircraft were a
foreign registered aircraft, it would be the drinking age in that
country.

Which means that UK citizens flying on a US carrier can't get alcohol till
they turn 21, even though they can legally drink at 18. It sucks
sometimes, but it's the most straightforward method.

Hilary


Citizenship has nothing to do with it. Anyone can legally drink at age 18 in the
UK. No-one can legally drink until age 21 in the USA.

JohnT

"JohnT" wrote in message
...

"Hilary" wrote in message
...

Citizenship has nothing to do with it. Anyone can legally drink at age 18
in the
UK. No-one can legally drink until age 21 in the USA.



I guess what Hillary was getting at was for example if I was 20 years old
and flying from London to New York. If I flew American Airlines I would not
be able to have alcohol. However if I flew British Airways, I would!

Charles Newman muttered....



I think it would depend on what country the aircraft is
registered in.
If
its a USA aircraft, it would be 21, but if the aircraft were a foreign
registered aircraft, it would be the drinking age in that country.



Strange....

There is no "drinking age" under US federal law (except as may be applied
to US military bases and federal land, national parks, monuments, etc,
which generally observe state/local codes), since the consumption of
alcohol is a matter for state and local jurisdictions, however, primarily
because Congress made it impossible for states to receive federal highway
funds unless they set the drinking age at 21, all 50 states now have a 21
year old drinking level.

In my youth, Louisiana and New York were 18, Colorado and Virginia (and
maybe North Carolina) were 18 for "3.2" beer, and for a short time in the
80s, Texas retreated to 19, but soon after had to raise because of the
federal requirement.

I suspect that the US airlines are under no "legal" mandate on
international flights but adopt the colration/protection of the laws
prevailing at their UD departure/arrival points. IIRC, the airlines do not
pay state tax on the alcohol they serve, but that may be incorrect and they
may have to pay the state tax in the state in which it was
purchased/delivered. Alcohol served on international flights may well have
been bought "in bond"(a quaint phrase comprehended by customs agents,
customs brokers and folks who do international trade) and exempt from
federal alcohol taxes.

TMO

All Canadian domestic flights between the Maritimes (Halifax, Moncton,
Saint John, Fredericton etc) and central Canada (Montreal, Ottawa and
Toronto) pass thru US airspace. Westbound, entering along the New
Brunswick/Maine border and re-entering Canada east of Sherbrooke,
Quebec.

An eastbound Toronto to Halifax flight usually enters the US near
Watertown, New York, then over Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine before
re-entering Canadian airspace over St. Stephen, New Brunswick.

Also a normal routing for Canadian domestic flight between Toronto and
western Canada (Calgary, Vancouver) is in US airspace over Michigan,
Minnesota and North Dakota before re-entering Canada. One flight I was
on to Vancouver was entirely over the US from Michigan until we turned
over Bellingham, Washington for our final approach into YVR
(Vancouver). Passing over Green Bay, Wisconsin on a flight from
Vancouver or Calgary to Toronto is quite common.

Citizenship has nothing to do with it. Anyone can legally drink at age 18
in the
UK. No-one can legally drink until age 21 in the USA.



I guess what Hillary was getting at was for example if I was 20 years old
and flying from London to New York. If I flew American Airlines I would not
be able to have alcohol. However if I flew British Airways, I would!


It all has to deal with what flag the plane is flying under. If say
you were flying Lufthansa and in the air over the atlantic going
towards Germany, then more than likely you were be gotten by the
German athorities.

If you were on Delta flying the same route, you may get busted by the
US and sent right back for the feds to deal with you.

I think the same goes for the drinking as well. Depends what country
the plane is registered in.

"Lester Mosley" wrote in message
om...

Citizenship has nothing to do with it. Anyone can legally drink at age
18
in the
UK. No-one can legally drink until age 21 in the USA.



I guess what Hillary was getting at was for example if I was 20 years
old
and flying from London to New York. If I flew American Airlines I would
not
be able to have alcohol. However if I flew British Airways, I would!


It all has to deal with what flag the plane is flying under. If say
you were flying Lufthansa and in the air over the atlantic going
towards Germany, then more than likely you were be gotten by the
German athorities.

If you were on Delta flying the same route, you may get busted by the
US and sent right back for the feds to deal with you.

Recent incidents show that air rage is usually dealt with by the authorities
in whatever country the plane lands in. There was a recent case of it on a
flight from BFS to Spain and the plane diverted to Shannon, in the Republic
of Ireland. The offender was dealt with by the Irish courts.