There was national embarrassment

yesterday when a drunken Australian caused a serious disruption on a Virgin airlines plane. No, it was not a "hijacking" as first reported but it was still a very serious incident. 
I assume that, whatever other charges are laid, the passenger will be banned from flying - for life.
At the same time one of the state's police officers was facing the media to tell people of the death of a disqualified driver, age 21, and his passenger, age 27. Another man is in hospital in a serious condition as a result of the collision which occurred on a country track. The disqualified driver was driving without lights and apparently nobody was wearing a seatbelt.
The first incident was avoidable. There is no need to get drunk - or, surely, any pleasure in doing so. If you fear flying - and many people do - perhaps visit the doctor and ask for something less harmful to yourself and others? I hate to think what the cost of having to unexpectedly land a plane is - to say nothing of the inconvenience and anxiety it caused. The only thing to be said is that nobody died as a result of the incident.
The second incident was also avoidable - and, worse, people died as a result. That will have a major impact on all those involved. The monetary cost will run to well over a million before everything is sorted out. The emotional cost is immeasurable.
"Why do they do it?" the Whirlwind asked me yesterday. It is an issue which deeply concerns her. She is, in a sense, a road accident victim. Her mother was injured in a collision with a drunken driver.  Her mother subsequently took her own life due to the brain injury she sustained. The Whirlwind has had to grow up without a mother and her father without his wife. It's a lifetime of emotional pain. I don't want to count the number of times I had to hug the Whirlwind when she was a small girl and even a bigger one - because she wanted her mother.
I don't know why people do stupid, avoidable things. Everyone does silly things from time to time and they can cause accidents too but downright stupid, avoidable things? It is beyond me.
It also makes me angry.
I