Just another day in the life of a FA

[Guest]

The amount of crap flight attendants have to put up with seems to be on the increase.

Delta Airlines Flight Attendant Assaulted by First-Class Passenger

by Associated Press

 

SEATAC, Wash. — A Delta Airlines flight bound for Beijing returned to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport after a passenger assaulted and injured a flight attendant, officials said.

The 23-year-old man sitting in first class attacked the flight attendant about 45 minutes into Delta Flight 129 on Thursday night Sea-Tac Airport spokesman Perry Cooper said.

Passengers helped restrain him, Cooper said, until the plane landed back at Sea-Tac and Port of Seattle police arrested the man, whose name has not been

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"The passenger was restrained on board and was removed from the flight by law enforcement without further incident," Delta said in a statement.

The flight attendant and one other person were injured and taken to a hospital.

Passenger Dustin Jones was seated just behind the curtains that lead to first class, and said he could tell there was a scuffle happening.

"One of the flight attendants ran back and said there was a Code 3," Jones told KIRO-TV. "There was a serious fight up front."

Jones said he saw the man handcuffed and zip-tied being rolled into the terminal in a wheelchair after they had landed.

"He started yelling for help," Jones said. "And so he turned the wheelchair over in the middle of the airport, screaming for people to help him, just being belligerent."

Airport officials said they conferred with the FBI and the incident is not thought to be a national security threat.

The flight left for Beijing later Thursday night.

[Guest]

A woman was removed from an American Airlines flight Wednesday after she reportedly attacked a flight attendant. 

Flight 218 was headed from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta to Chicago O'Hare International when it was turned back to the gate after the incident occurred. 

A video posted to Facebook shows the woman, wearing a blue dress, arguing with the crew after reportedly hitting a flight attendant.

https://www.facebook.com/michael.nash.351756/videos/10212380415122043/

The woman fought with crew after disrupting other passengers with a loud phone conversations and refusing to sit down during takeoff. The video also shows her holding a small dog outside of a carrier, in violation of Fort Worth-based American's pet policy. 

Officer Stephanie Brown of the Atlanta police told WMAQ-TV in Chicago that the department  helped escort the woman from the flight, but the FBI held jurisdiction and did not arrest or charge her. 

The Atlanta division of the FBI questioned several passengers on the flight before it was allowed to depart Wednesday evening, arriving in Chicago about 4 hours late. 

The woman was booked on a different flight to O'Hare on Thursday, according to Hartsfield-Jackson International. Authorities have not identified her.

 

 

[Guest]

U.S. fighter jets scrambled after 'unruly' passenger disrupts Montreal-Cuba flight

Sunwings Airlines flight forced to return to Montreal

The Canadian PressPosted: Jul 07, 2017 5:31 AM ET Last Updated: Jul 07, 2017 8:33 AM ET

Two U.S. Air Force F-15 fighter jets were scrambled to escort the plane back to Montreal. (Ints Kalnins/Reuters)

 

A Sunwing Airlines flight bound for Cuba had to return to Montreal's Trudeau International Airport on Thursday evening under a fighter jet escort due to an "unruly customer.''

An airline spokeswoman said flight WG604 had departed for Cayo Coco but turned around due to the passenger making "non-specific threats.''

"The flight arrived back around 7:25 p.m. and the disruptive customer was taken into police custody,'' said Rachel Goldrick in an email to The Canadian Press.

Montreal police spokesperson Const. Raphael Bergeron later confirmed to CBC News that a 39-year-old man was taken into custody once the plane landed. 

"The person was uttering threats toward the staff. He was intimidating other passengers, so the decision was made to turn around," he said.

The man faces charges of public mischief and uttering threats, among other possible charges, Bergeron said.

"There was no threats about terrorism or anything like that — it was more like behaviour that was aggressive."

Fighters scrambled

NORAD spokesperson Lt. Commander Joe Nawrocki said a pair of U.S. Air Force F-15 jets were dispatched from Barnes Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts and intercepted the aircraft near Albany, N.Y.

Canadian CF18s were also reportedly scrambled from Quebec but did not take part in the operation. They "monitored from a distance, ready to respond quickly if required," MaryAnna Clemons, another NORAD spokesperson, told CBC.

Clemons added that two F-16s were also scrambled from Atlantic City, N.J., and were in the air but never intercepted the commercial flight.

She said the fact both countries were able to collaborate was due to "the unique binational relationship [that] allows for that cross border support between the U.S. and Canadian air forces."

The Sunwings flight was able to depart once more for Cuba at 4:50 a.m. 

"Sunwing has provided affected customers with accommodations and meal vouchers and is very apologetic for the inconvenience,'' Goldrick wrote.

This was the second such incident involving a North American flight on Thursday night.

Officials say a Delta Airlines flight bound for Beijing returned to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport after a passenger assaulted a flight attendant.

Airport spokesman Perry Cooper says a man in first class assaulted a flight attendant about 45 minutes into the flight and that passengers then helped restrain the man until the plane landed back in Seattle.

Officials say two people, including the flight attendant, were injured and taken to a hospital.

[DEFCON]

Cheap fares attract the dredges of society.

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, DEFCON said:

Cheap fares attract the dredges of society.

You could be right but there may be a different reason why this type of behaviour is on the increase and that is a change in our regard for others.   Our daily news has numerous stories about abusive behaviour, road rage, swarming, knife attacks etc. that have nothing to do with "cheap fares" but rather a complete lack of regard for others.  

As early as 2014 concern was being raised about this type of behaviour.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2014/08/25/flight-etiquette-unruly-flier/14563699/

[DEFCON]

Yes, it's not only the airlines, the 'me first' attitude is prevalent everywhere today. Maybe if the millennials had of been raised to understand it's not all about them, their homemade rights and their low esteem for everyone else?

 

 

[J.O.]

There are plenty of recent examples of similar behaviour from all generations, right up to the highest levels of "society".

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, J.O. said:

There are plenty of recent examples of similar behaviour from all generations, right up to the highest levels of "society".

Yes you are correct, but they seem to be on the increase (can not pin this only on millennials. ). Society in general has gone, at least as far as I can see, downhill ......

[Seeker]

Post-modernist, leftist ideology in academia, the mainstream media and government - that's the cause of all our problems.

[Guest]

July 7, 2017 5:57 pm

Updated: July 7, 2017 8:08 pm

Delta flight attendant breaks wine bottle over man’s head as he goes for exit in the air: FBI agent

By Gene Johnson The Associated Press

WATCH ABOVE: A Delta flight to Beijing had to turn around back to Seattle after a 23-year-old man from Florida had to be subdued by flight attendants and fellow passengers after he tried to go for the exit door during flight.

 

A flight attendant broke a wine bottle over the head of a man who lunged for an exit door and fought with other passengers during a Delta Air Lines flight from Seattle to Beijing, but it didn’t faze him, an FBI agent wrote in charging papers filed Friday.

Joseph Daniel Hudek IV, 23, of Tampa, Florida, appeared in U.S. District Court, wearing a beige jail uniform and sporting a scrape or bruise below his right eye.

He was arrested Thursday night after causing the disturbance that forced the plane to return to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, authorities said.

Hudek did not speak during the hearing. His attorney, Robert Flennaugh II, declined to comment.

Hudek was charged with interfering with a flight crew, which carries a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He is expected to remain in custody at least until a detention hearing on July 13.

One flight attendant and a passenger were taken to a hospital after suffering severe facial injuries, authorities said. Perry Cooper, a spokesman for the Port of Seattle, described the injuries as non-life-threatening.

A probable cause statement written by FBI special agent Caryn Highley said Hudek was sitting in the first row of the Boeing 767′s first-class section. He asked a flight attendant for a beer before takeoff, and was served one, but he exhibited no sign of being intoxicated and ordered no other alcoholic drinks, the attendant told authorities.

About an hour into the flight, while the plane was over the Pacific Ocean northwest of Vancouver Island, Hudek went into the forward restroom. He came out quickly, asked the attendant a question, and went back in, the agent wrote.

When he came out again two minutes later, he suddenly lunged for the exit door, grabbed the handle and tried to open it, Highley wrote. Two attendants grabbed him, but he pushed them away, and the attendants signaled for help from several passengers and notified the cockpit by telephone, the complaint said.

Hudek punched one flight attendant twice in the face and struck at least one passenger in the head with a red dessert wine bottle, it said.

As the struggle continued, a flight attendant grabbed two wine bottles and hit Hudek over the head with each — breaking at least one of them, Highley wrote.

According to one flight attendant, “Hudek did not seem impacted by the breaking of a full liter red wine bottle over his head, and instead shouted, ‘Do you know who I am?’ or something to that extent,” the complaint said.

© 2017 The Canadian Press

[Wolfhunter]

Over the years I’ve worked a variety of security gigs because I enjoy the interaction (it's not for the money). Ask any cop, security guard or person who works in retail. I’m pretty sure that many will note that older (middle aged and beyond) women are among the most difficult and self entitled folks around. They are closely followed by men of the same age group. In other words, dare I say, “our” generation. The number of university aged guys who start crying when the handcuffs come out would likely surprise most people.

[UpperDeck]

The Delta incident described in the report posted by Malcolm was the act of a non-rev passenger travelling on a buddy pass. Presumably, he took some form of drug to facilitate sleep and had an adverse---- very adverse---- reaction.

[DEFCON]

There seems to be a number of favored groupings when it comes to poor behaviour, maybe our prejudices are mostly based on personal experience, but JO probably got it right.  

[Guest]

An  update:

Flight attendant smashed wine bottles on man who tried to open exit midair: FBI

 

‎Today, ‎July ‎9, ‎2017, ‏‎2 hours ago | Washington Post

Armed with fists and an unexplained determination, a man attacked Delta Air Lines crew and passengers Thursday as he tried to pry open an exit door midair, according to the FBI.

Joseph Hudek IV was eventually subdued by multiple people on the Seattle-to-Beijing flight – in a melee where bottles of wine became weapons.

He and more than 200 other people were on board when the plane took off around 5 p.m. from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Nothing about his background, as described in an FBI affidavit, seemed extraordinary: He was 23, flying on a dependent pass, which an airline spokesman told the Seattle Times are sometimes issued to relatives of Delta employees.

Hudek had ordered a single beer before takeoff, and appeared sober, according to the FBI.

The Boeing 767 had been flying about an hour – crossing over Vancouver Island – when Hudek rose from his first-class seat and walked into the bathroom.

He was inside about two minutes, according to the affidavit. Then he “lunged toward the forward right exit door of the aircraft, grabbed the handle” and tried to pull it open.

Two flight attendants immediately tried to stop Hudek, wrote an FBI agent who later interviewed people on the plane. They called for help when he pushed them away and kept trying to force the lever that held the door in place, the agent wrote.

Dustin Jones, seated just behind the first-class curtains, told KIRO-TV that a flight attendant ran toward the back of the plane and announced: “Code 3.”

A flight attendant asked passengers for help and called the pilot, according to the FBI agent’s affidavit. The pilot reported the emergency and swung the plane back toward Seattle.

A second attendant kept trying to subdue Hudek, but was punched and knocked to the ground.

A man got out of his seat to help. Witnesses would tell the FBI that Hudek punched him in the face repeatedly and hit him with a bottle of red wine, of which several were laying around.

Having fought off the initial resistance, the FBI agent wrote, Hudek went back to the door and kept working on the lever.

By now, other passengers were scared. Hudek had raised the lever halfway up, according to the affidavit. Flight crew would later tell the FBI agent that had the plane been flying low, the door could have opened.

A flight attendant picked up a wine bottle, then a second one, and smashed them each over Hudek’s head, according to the FBI.

“Hudek did not seem impacted by the breaking of a full liter red wine bottle over his head,” the FBI agent wrote, “and instead shouted ‘Do you know who I am?’ or something to that extent.”

He kept fighting, according to the affidavit: breaking from a passenger’s headlock and struggling even after multiple passengers had joined the fray.

But he was outnumbered, and eventually subdued – held down in the galley, zip-ties fastened around his limbs while a flight attendant told a passenger to return the lever to its proper place.

The U.S. attorney’s office charged Hudek with interfering with a flight crew, and released a photo of the galley taken after the plane landed back at the Seattle airport. It looked like a trashed hotel room: dishes and smashed food strewn beneath an “EXIT” sign; the door and carpet sprayed with red wine, or worse.

“Somebody had blood on their shirt,” passenger Britteny Gardner told KIRO-TV.

Even after all that, passenger Dustin Jones told KIRO, his energy had still not been exhausted.

“He turned the wheelchair over in the middle of the airport,” Jones said, “screaming for people to help him.”

In a brief statement, Delta confirmed a “security incident” midflight, but provided no details. A flight attendant and the first passenger who tried to restrain Hudek where both taken to a hospital with “severe facial injuries,” according to the affidavit.

Hudek could not be reached for comment by The Washington Post. The Seattle Times attended his first court appearance on Friday, and noted that he looked scraped up too.

[DEFCON]

It's too bad FA's aren't carrying little cans of hairspray in their kit; a little squirt in the eyes of an apparently drug crazed guy like this would make him considerably less difficult to control quite quickly.

 

 

[QFE]

Good idea DEFCON, however, how would they get it

thru security?

[DEFCON]

Mace, pepper spray and other nasties are just too toxic to be used in a close pressurized environment. If TC were to approve hairspray for the purpose it could be carried as part of the aircraft supplies stowed right beside the nylon cuffs.

 

[blues deville]

2 hours ago, DEFCON said:

Mace, pepper spray and other nasties are just too toxic to be used in a close pressurized environment. If TC were to approve hairspray for the purpose it could be carried as part of the aircraft supplies stowed right beside the nylon cuffs.

 

I like the idea. Not sure if a regular hair spray can would have enough force to do anything. However, those little plastic eye glass cleaner (pump action) could give you something to aim with and the alcohol solution might be enough to temporarily disarm an idiot long enough for help to arrive. 

[Seeker]

42 minutes ago, blues deville said:

I like the idea. Not sure if a regular hair spray can would have enough force to do anything. However, those little plastic eye glass cleaner (pump action) could give you something to aim with and the alcohol solution might be enough to temporarily disarm an idiot long enough for help to arrive. 

I disagree.  The amount of time it would take to futz around with the little bottle, get it out, right side up, pointed the right direction and get your thumb on the top is better spent running away.  Now, of course, there are a thousand different scenarios you can imagine.  In some of them you might be able to pre-emptively have the little spray bottle ready and anything can be a weapon so I wouldn't say that it will never work for self-defense but overall I think it would be difficult to use, of questionable value and might give a false sense of security or become a distraction.

[Guest]

Perhaps one of these would fill the need, of course one other airline has provided their FAs with tasers. https://theairlinewebsite.com/topic/418248-does-korean-air-carry-a-taser-onboard-to-subdue-unruly-pax/#comment-1680765

Quote

http://www.badguystuff.com/images/leather_sap_600x500.jpg

On the list of approved weapons still used by some sheriff's deputies are hard-leather saps reminiscent of ones carried by the tough-talking detectives in 1940s films.  A sap is a flat, beavertail-shaped slapper that is weighted with lead on the widest end.  Small and inconspicuous, it can pack a punch with even the smallest amount of force behind it. 

 

 

[blues deville]

I guess what I'm thinking is the situation is on its way or already out of control and someone in the crew would have time to "futz" (great word ) with the spray bottle. Failing that, all new cabin crew must speak two languages and know a martial art. 

[DEFCON]

'running away'? To where?

I used to have a slapper; they work very well, but unless you're trained how to use the thing properly, you're more likely to kill the guy than stop him, which is probably why they're prohibited from use by most if not all police departments in Canada now.

 

 

[Seeker]

23 minutes ago, DEFCON said:

'running away'? To where?

Realistically the chance of the FA subduing an unruly/violent passenger alone is quite low.  "Run away" means get some distance and call for/hope some ABP (or several) steps in.  Even if the FA was able to spritz the guy with his/her hairspray he/she will still need help so my feeling is that standing there trying to do that only keeps him/her within grabbing/striking range longer.  Look at the example above - FA broke a wine bottle over the guy's head and still needed help from other passengers.  I would argue that getting clocked with a wine bottle would be/should have been a bigger deterrent than getting sprayed with hair spray and it still wasn't enough.

As I said, it's not impossible to imagine a scenario where a deft spray with your aerosol makes the difference, anything can be a weapon; look on youtube and you'll find self-defense skills using a belt or a shoe being demonstrated but, my feeling, is that for most people most of the time it will not help.

[blues deville]

On 2017-07-10 at 4:05 PM, seeker said:

Realistically the chance of the FA subduing an unruly/violent passenger alone is quite low. 

Perhaps depending on the male/female count. I was on AC (YVR-YYZ) recently with the entire A321 cabin crew composed of men. Some I'd say we're fairly senior and two were pretty good sized fellows. I don't think they'd put up with any crap.

[DEFCON]

"He was 23, flying on a dependent pass, which an airline spokesman told the Seattle Times are sometimes issued to relatives of Delta employees."

Wouldn't you love to be the employee responsible for the pass.