Support for this theory comes from reports filed by airline personnel about unruly passengers and other problems. Incidents of airplane mayhem appear to be on the rise, as air traffic gets more congested and planes more crowded. 

Among recent, well-publicized cases is that of a United Airlines passenger from Connecticut who, swacked out of his mind and cut off from the airline's hooch, defecated on a food cart.

Then there's the rich widow who is suing American Airlines after the pilot tied her up with her dog's leash in a dispute over stowing the pet (a Maltese named Dom Perignon). Not to mention the guy on a British Airways flight from India to London who began rubbing butter all over his body while chanting.

American Airlines says the number of incidents of verbal and physical abuse against its crew members nearly tripled from 1994 to 1995, to almost 900. While many incidents are amusing for the foibles they expose, airline employees say the threat of violence on the job is no joke.

Prodded by American Airlines and flight attendants' unions, the Federal Aviation Administration last month signaled a sterner line, urging a range of airline procedures to curb (rather than tolerate) abusive passengers.

Here are flight attendants' accounts of incidents on a variety of airlines, some of which resulted in arrests. (In-flight interference is a Federal crime and can draw the heat of the FBI.

The accounts are excerpted from incident reports made available by the Association of Flight Attendants. The union withheld the names of airlines and people involved.

• On a Newark-to-San Francisco flight in May 1994: Passenger upset that flight attendant didn't have her special meal, used abusive language and then threw her wine in his face, and then hit him on the head with the empty wine bottle. . .

• On a Chicago-to-Orlando flight in October 1994: Following completion of the safety demo, the passenger in 16C struck flight attendant . . . in the head! Flight attendant explained that this behavior was unacceptable and tried to calm him down. Flight attendant smelled alcohol on his breath at this time. . . . Five minutes into flight, flight attendant witnessed the passenger spit on another passenger seated in 16D. The second officer came back to talk with the passenger and the decision was made to go back to the airport . . . 

• On a San Francisco-to-Las Vegas flight in October 1994, off-duty airline employees were trouble: Flight was uneventful until passengers in seats 20 E&F ordered their drinks and then flashed an employee ID badge when it came time to pay for their drinks. . . . The party was sarcastic and loudly blurted out, "I take a gamble when flying (this airline)!'' The flight attendant then responded, knowing they were employees, that they should be more discreet. A female passenger then yelled at flight attendant that the attendant . . . was serving her and "she is the customer because she is flying `"full fare.' '' After landing, and during deplaning, the male passenger approached the flight attendant, intoxicated, and demanding his badge back. When the flight attendant refused, passenger shoved flight attendant and as flight attendant tried to move away from them they both tried to block him while yelling obscenities. . . .

• On a Jan. 20, 1996, flight from Taipei, Taiwan, to San Francisco, an incident involved a passenger who was evidently an influential Taiwanese: I never served a passenger like this. . . . I was in the galley and he came . . . to ask for wine and try to talk to me and ask me out. But I said "no'' and I refused to give him wine because he was drunk. Then he walked down to first class yelling and disturbing the passengers. . . . I called the cockpit to ask them to turn on the seatbelt sign so I could ask him to return back to his seat. After he returned to his seat, he pushed the call button and I went to answer. He asked for another drink. I said, "You should take a good rest; we don't have any wine left anymore.'' He said, "I got a better idea,'' then grabbed my arm and tried to kiss me. I pushed him away and said, "If you dare to touch me again, I'm going to sue you.'' . . . He came to the galley and said . . . "You want to be in big trouble?'' (implying he could use his influence to retaliate against her if she told) . . . I really don't know how to handle this situation.

• Before takeoff of a Feb. 13 flight from Los Angeles to Chicago, a flight attendant learned that a passenger on the previous flight had left the plane a mess. Superiors seemed nonplused: Flight attendants on inbound aircraft relayed to me that a passenger lost control of all bodily functions in back galley and also the lav. . . . I immediately went back to see for myself and was appalled at what I saw. . . . Cabin service personnel were starting to clean it with a dust mop, squirt bottle, coffee grounds and (the airline's brand of) cologne. They saturated the spots, making the floor squishy . . . The smell of the feces/cleaner/cologne made me gag. Halfway through the cleaning process the caterers changed the galley without the cabin service personnel cleaning the floors underneath the carts. I immediately went to the duty supervisor and told him I was uncomfortable with the situation and did not want to take the trip.
  He showed little or no concern and said they would clean it . . . Finally (a) supervisor came to the aircraft along with captain . . . Both doors were open with a draft going through and the captain said he didn't smell anything . . . He disagreed with my judgment but should be commended for showing concern for my feelings . . . 

• On an April 14 flight from Chicago to Paris: While I was doing the service in (first class) the man in 15H asked me to turn off the light so he could make love to his wife. . . . She didn't seem to be pleased. It looks like (this) was the cause of the argument. A couple of hours later he asked me to move his wife to another seat. She didn't want to at first . . . but to avoid any problem she moved.
  Then the wife returned . . . (He) asked me to tell her to move back to economy. She said: "I'm his wife. I want to stay here.'' He started screaming at her, using very vulgar language, and pushed her away. I asked the lady to go back to economy as it was the safest place for her. . . 

• On a Nov. 14 flight from San Francisco to Narita International Airport in Japan: Passenger . . . seated at 22G indicated (to) flight attendant during cocktail service that he had to go to sleep without meal, therefore requested double scotch. He had another double drink before the meal service . . . (and was) served another double scotch during meal service. At the same time (he) expressed frustration/anger for not being able to smoke on flight.
  Requested drink from other flight attendant after meal service. Amount of liquor consumed is unknown but we purposely delayed delivery of drinks, so he purchased duty-free scotch and started drinking from the bottle. (This was observed/reported by passengers seated around him.)

• Passenger in 21H came back to aft galley and informed me that (the unruly passenger) was smoking in 22G and disturbing all other customers in the vicinity. I asked him politely not to smoke and gently removed cigarette and extinguished it.
  Japanese passenger in 22F during all this time was extremely polite and accommodating. After the cigarettenwas removed I communicated with the Japanese passenger. . . . That's when (the drunken passenger) grabbed and held my wrist and told me to "shut up and listen'' to him, and ordered me to speak in English only. That's when flight attendant came on to the scene and assisted me in escaping from this man's very strong grip.
  The assisting flight attendant reported this: I grabbed his hands, (and) was able to make him release his grip on her. . . . I tried to explain to him again that smoking was not permitted anywhere on the aircraft and that his action of grabbing and pulling (the flight attendant) is against F.A.R. (federal air regulations) and is a serious problem.
  I then bent down to speak with him quietly, eye-to-eye level. As I was explaining to him the seriousness of his action . . . he put his hand on my left shoulder as if to say "OK'' and slid his right hand up and around my throat. . .This done, he began pressing hard on my Adam's apple. The pressure became dangerous and my instinctive reaction was (to) grab his thumb and render it unusable. I then strongly informed him that he crossed the line . .
  The captain arrived moments later . . . Again (the passenger) became verbally abusive . . . and tried to grab his hands. The captain strongly requested that he was not to be touched at any time and that he should return to his seat. . . . (He) returned to his seat, at which point I asked him to turn over his duty-free scotch . . . He complied ...
  The other flight attendant requested that he just go to sleep and he did. (He passed out.) But later he got out of his seat and walked to door 3R to 3L, crossing past all the lavs. (A passenger) . . . was sleeping. . . What woke her up was someone pushing on the seat back. When she opened her eyes she saw (him) leaning over her, which made her think he was having a heart attack or ill, only to discover that he was unzipping his pants and began urinating. . . .