BK may be deemed too high risk to fly on a commercial airliner. They usually won't transport prisoners over a four-hour flight either (at least that's Fed rules). It's also very costly to get the JPATS flight. Most are transported on a bus. Seriously. The buses are specially made. It's a very long trip. It's a miserable trip.
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Transporting prisoners on commercial flights
Prisoners fly on commercial airlines based on the circumstances of their extradition. Higher costs of private aircraft make commercial flights more economically feasible for less dangerous prisoners.
Depending on the region, prisoners may use commercial flights up to hundreds of times per year. However, robust regulations exist to determine when this happens.
The agency responsible for transporting the prisoner designates the individual as high or low risk. Transporting more than one high-risk prisoner requires special TSA authorization.
Strict requirements regulate the standards for transporting prisoners:
At least one armed law enforcement official is required to escort a prisoner.
Flight times can’t surpass four hours.
Prisoners board the flight before all other passengers.
Seating requirements force them to the rearmost position of the passenger cabin.
Restraints remain on the prisoner’s hands for the duration of the flight.
During mealtime, they can not use metal eating utensils or have any alcoholic beverages without the officer’s authorization.
An entity formed in 1995, dubbed The Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS), specializes in transporting convicts.
<p>Transporting prisoners on planes conjures up images of Con Air in most people’s minds. As with most iconic movie stories, realism comes into question. You might ask yourself why they transport prisoners on planes in the first place. Could a crash allow convicts to run amok? Who handles these...
www.sanspotter.com
In 1995, the air fleets of the Marshals Service and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement merged to create the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS). The merger created a more efficient and effective system for transporting prisoners and criminal aliens.
Managed by the Marshals Service, Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System is one of the largest transporters of prisoners in the world - handling about 715 requests every day to move prisoners between judicial districts, correctional institutions and foreign countries.
Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System is the only government-operated, regularly scheduled passenger airline in the nation.
Created in 1995 and managed by the U.S. Marshals Service, the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS) is one of the largest transporters of
prod.usmarshals.gov