Yes this is madness - what an idiot of a man but the court on appeal doubling it is tough.

One way to send a message that is for sure..

But it was because he caused a fire, rather than the smoking .
A better punishment would be to ban him from all aircraft for the 9 years.

Actually I think 9 years is quite lenient considering the seriousness of the crime. He was clearly an antisocial, drunken, aggressive person who had no regard for rules or passenger safety. He endangered the lives of hundreds of people, and how do we know it wasn't deliberate? I wouldn't hesitate to jail him for 20 years, knowing that he'll be out in half that time anyway.

He's got to have been peed out of his head and his brain had been rewired through alcohol because nobody in control of their senses would discard a lit cigarette into a bin containing combustible material on a plane or ANYWHERE.
You can't run away from a fire on a plane, so yes if I'd been the judge I'd have banged him in prison for putting 200 plus people in danger.

I'm not condoning what he did, he was a idiot, but he could have put it out under the tap in the sink and he'd probably would have just got a ban and a heavy fine......

Or use the ashtray

Believe it or not, whilst smoking has been banned on planes for yonks, the 'powers that be' obviously don't trust the general public and by law it's mandatory to have removal ashtrays in the toilets, usually located on the inside of the door....... even on the latest planes.
I can remember reading about a BA flight that was grounded because it didn't have an ashtray in one of the toilets and they had to get one off another plane before the flight could depart.

I would have a smoke detector and a forceful sprinkler in the loos (if it were possible) that drops a load of water on them and soaks them through to their skin.

Sanji x