FAA proposes more than $500,000 in new fines against unruly airline passengers

(CNN) Federal authorities are proposing more than a half-million dollars in new fines against commercial airline passengers they say refused to wear masks, hit flight attendants and even threw luggage across the cabin.

The Federal Aviation Administration's announcement Thursday of $531,545 in fines against 34 passengers accused of being unruly on board is the single largest announcement of federal fines since the start of a nationwide crackdown earlier this year , bringing this year's total to more than $1 million.

Of the incidents detailed by federal investigators for the first time, nearly two-thirds involve passengers accused of violating the federal transportation-wide mask mandate, which was just extended by the Transportation Security Administration to remain in place through January 18

Federal documents show that nine of the 34 incidents involve a passenger accused of touching or hitting another person on the plane, including crew members. Eight passengers are accused of illegally drinking alcohol they brought on board the plane. Half of the incidents involve flights to or from vacation destinations in Florida.

With this announcement, the FAA has now proposed fines against nearly 80 passengers after receiving nearly 3,900 reports of incidents. The FAA said on Tuesday that based on the reports, it has opened 682 investigations into possible violations of federal laws.