Sometimes I just don’t understand.
A few weeks back, this woman on a Delta Airlines flight was caught on video.
She got angry, acted entitled, went off on a flight attendant–was removed from the plane. Days later, her name was all over the Internet, and she’d been put on leave from her job.
Lesson learned. It’s the world we live in. Make a mistake and if it’s on video, it can follow you forever.
But then, here we are, and an American Airlines passenger does this insane thing you’ll see in a second–and his name and outcome haven’t leaked, even days afterward.
Life ain’t fair. Here’s the story as we know it.
American Airlines, flight 5466, set to take off from Charlotte, N.C. to Cincinnati.
An allegedly intoxicated passenger is thrown off the plane before it even gets away from the gate, according to reports.
Somehow, he doesn’t just wind up back in the terminal; he’s down on the tarmac.
He rips off his shirt. Gets his hands on one of the batons that the grounds crew is using. Starts swinging. Actually appears to hit one of the workers in the head before running away.
it takes three minutes at least before security arrives, according to an eyewitness.
You can view it all at the end of this article, in the embedded video. Actually, scratch that–videos, plural.
“He acts like he wants to fight, or something,” a woman can be heard saying on one of the recordings. “Well, that ain’t gonna get him back on, I’ll tell you that.”
No, it doesn’t get him back on.
I reached out to American Airlines. Who was this passenger, and what exactly happened? But beyond confirming that the incident actually happened, they said they couldn’t provide more details.
“We did have a disruptive passenger on flight 5466, departing for Cincinnati, on the afternoon of Feb. 26,” American Airlines told me, but added, “You will have to contact law enforcement for further information.”
So I reached out to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, which has jurisdiction over the airport.
So far, no reply–which means that neither I nor other media know who the passenger was, or if he was actually arrested.
I mean, you’d think he was arrested. But we don’t know for sure.
It’s all getting too common. It’s not only the Delta flight I mentioned this month, but a JetBlue flight out of Los Angeles, when an apparently crazed passenger went bezerk, and ultimately punched a flight attendant in the head.
Also caught on video. Also went viral.
Why is it that in some cases there are virtual Internet detectives eager to dox the offending passengers in these kinds of videos–while others escape social repercussions, if not legal ones, for their actions?
I can’t answer. I can only share the stories.
And remember, once again that as frustrated as many of us get with air travel sometimes–the people who work for the airlines have to react to some truly crazy stuff.
Just a typically day in Charlotte Douglas Airport on American Airlines @AmericanAir, where’s United when you need them? @united Do you think we should ban all traffic batons, @realDonaldTrump? @TODAYshow pic.twitter.com/pMsmn5kR1l
— Marck (@therealMarck) February 27, 2018
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