Jessica Raspudic: Ex-Skippers Aviation hostess loses bid to have conviction for vaping on plane overturned

An ex-flight attendant responsible for warning passengers not to smoke while aboard an aircraft bound for a WA mining town was filmed puffing on a vape while the plane was in the air. Jessica Mae Raspudic spent four years with Skippers Aviation as an air hostess delivering safety flight briefings to passengers, including informing them of smoking bans. But her time in the air came to halt after she was convicted for vaping twice on flight from Perth to Forrestania. Details regarding the vape on the plane incidents were revealed in a bid by Raspudic to have her conviction and subsequent sentence for the transgressions thrown out. In February, she was fined $9500 in Perth Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to the two offences that took place in August 2023. The first incident occurred after the flight left its Perth terminal at 2.30pm on August 22 bound for Forrestania. Once the plane was in the air, Raspudic delivered the inflight briefing to the passengers and no smoking signs were on display. When the flight landed and the passengers disembarked, she remained on the plane and took her break. It was at this point that she was filmed by a colleague smoking the vape. The second incident took place during the flight back from Forrestania to Perth. After delivering the safety briefing, Raspudic made her way to the back galley, sat on the floor and puffed on her vape. That incident was again recorded by the same colleague. Charges against Raspudic were laid and she pleaded guilty on February 9 to two counts of smoking on an aircraft contrary to Civil Aviation Safety Regulations on February 9. She resigned as an air hostess shortly after before launching an appeal against the conviction and sentence, arguing that she had suffered a miscarriage of justice because the agreed facts before the court did not support the offence charged. Raspudic argued that she could not have been guilty of the first offence because the plane was “resting”. She also argued that the magistrate erred in fact by finding her conduct amounted to repetitive behaviour and constituted an aggravating circumstance for the purposes of sentencing. In dismissing the appeal, Supreme Court Justice Natalie Whitby found that there was no other reason for Raspudic to be on the plane, other than for a flight, even if she was on a break.