Alcohol is the biggest factor fuelling shameful behaviour on Australian flights, including sexual activity and attacking others with foul language in front of small children. 
Australian Federal Police case summaries dating back four years show the majority of offensive and disorderly behaviour cases they investigated involved alcohol, according to documents obtained by a freedom of information request.
Offending passengers were often so drunk that their questioning had to be delayed and one research organisation has called for stiffer penalties for drunk flyers.
Flight attendants confiscated vodka smuggled on board by one Japanese businessman making the 10-hour flight from Tokyo to the Gold Coast after the man's heated arguments with other passengers.
The man had inappropriately touched a female passenger without her consent and spent part of the flight openly flicking through a hard-core porn magazine to the disgust of those around him. Those watching the man said he pulled his trousers down, stuck his hand down his black tights and "engaged in vigorous hand movements".
Michael Thorn, chief executive of Canberra-based Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, said stronger penalties should be considered for being intoxicated on a flight and "greater care taken to not permit intoxicated people onto aircraft".