United: Bad Toilet Timing Leads To Delay, Arrests
Two passengers were arrested on a United flight from LA to New York after one of them jumped up and ran to the bathroom after being instructed to remain seated by a flight attendant. Apparently the man just needed to use the bathroom — like now.
The AP says that "nothing was found on the plane or in the baggage of the man and his companion," according to LA police.
The flight was about to take off when the man jumped up and ran to the bathroom. The crew found this behavior suspicious and returned the plane to the gate where the man and another passenger were removed, questioned and searched. No charges are expected to be filed.
When ya gotta go, ya gotta go.
No threat found on delayed United flight at LAX [AP]
(Photo:afagen)
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Comments:
If only he hadn't drank more than 3 oz. of liquid before boarding the plane...
(Kidding!)
I've had some issues with USA Airways the past few days. I always book the seat at the back of the plane since I don't like people bumping my back.
The flight attendants keep moving me to another row citing "security reasons" so that they can all sit at the back together, especially if it's not a full flight.
It actually happened to me twice yesterday travelling from Europe to the US. Moved from my nice cosy window seat in the very back corner and ordered to sit in the middle halfway down the plane.
I am so pissed off at this but I know enough not to argue.
I was just on a flight from JFK to LAX and was seated near to a contingent of non-English-speaking Japanese passengers. One of them jumped up while taxiing to use the bathroom. Aside from an evil look, the flight attendants did nothing.
What the Japanese passenger did was much more egregious than this. But no, there is no racial profiling going on. Nothing to see. Move on.
Sometimes, shit happens.
I'm going to go ahead and blame the passenger on this one. Smart people piss before boarding or at least before takeoff. Or they hold it.
but in lock up you get your own bathroom or in most places shear it with one cell mate.
Hey flight attendants, you need to chill the %#!* out.
@picardia: Unless they are held accountable for wasting everyone's time, they won't care. Everyone will also just say better be safe than sorry. In the end, what good is all the security you go through to get to the gate? Clearly they have no faith in it.
Well if the passenger just went before they got on the plane, none of this would've happened. Also, they could have used my local mom-and-pop airline, which lets you use the bathroom anytime you want, no questions asked. And if they were really resourceful, they could've applied a little DIY elbow grease and made use of the "bathroom in their pants."
While I understand the need to use a bathroom, the airline has procedures and cant take off with people not in their seats. Questioning and searching are protocol, and while they suck, I guess its kind of understood.
@picardia: So the next time I'm on a plane, and someone jumps up and runs to the bathroom in a panic, it's okay if he yells "Just a bathroom breeaaaaaaaak!"?
I think not. People lie. One man's legitimate excuse is another's flat out lie.
Maybe you should fix the headline, as there were no arrests.
Perhaps airlines should require their employees to attend a para-military training school as part of their job training. After all, those IBS sufferers are some seriously dangerous people, what with their projectile diarrhea and all.
@Aresef: Hey man, sometimes some of us really gotta poop right now! Remember this one? [consumerist.com]
@Aresef: Not true. As recent articles on Consumerist have pointed out, some people have medical conditions that mean they cannot hold it.
I'd rather he jumped up and shit while taking off than have to sit for five hours on a flight with a man who just shit his pants in the seat next to me.
@picardia:
Since this appears to be pretty light in the details, I can't really say who's to blame.
If they guy who had to go just stood up and stormed into the bathroom with a look of pure evil on his face, barked at the flight attendant when they told him he needed to sit back down for now, and then slammed himself into the bathroom. I don't really blame them.
I can perfectly see some variation of what I said taking place. People are grumpy and self-centered.
On the other hand, maybe he let them know he really had to go and they are just being assholes about it.
Personally I think it's closer to the first reason then the second.
While I agree that you should take care of your business before you board the plane, sometimes emergencies happen.
I hate to say it but in a way the airlines brought this on themselves. If this person had asked permission and was told no then went anyway he would have been committing a crime by disobeying a flight attendant. If he doesn't ask and just goes, there was no crime.
What's with this useless amount of layered security? You have the most strict public access security gate at the front of the airport, then you have the "use discretion at all times" flight attendants.
Disruptive people are a different story (this guy obviously wasn't). But, when you look back, how many actual TERRORISTS have flight attendants caught? (This is a serious question, I'm actually wondering)
Simple win-win solution here - just charge a fee for emergency bathroom use (no cash allowed though, only credit cards!)
(I hope I didn't give the execs any ideas)
@pecan 3.14159265: But then, it is security's job to make sure nothing lethal got into the plane in the first place.
@MostlyHarmless: Mistakes happen, don't they? And just because nothing carried on is lethal doesn't mean a person can't start a panic.
@dancekat1: Presumably this man didn't have a medical condition, so it just seems to be a case of a guy who "forgot" that he was about to take off.
@Moosehawk: Not to mention the fact that an actual terrorist would wait until the flight was IN THE AIR before doing something to the aircraft. This one wasn't even off the ground yet.
@RickScarf: Don't worry. They're probably too busy working out how the airlines will ask Uncle Obama for a bailout.
@Communist Pope: Right, he should have went before he got on the plane, because nobody that flies ever suffers from any kind of urinary, bowel, or digestive disorder.
@Aresef: We dont know that he actually had to relieve himself -- he could have a nervous issue and needed to barf or something
@xtc46 - thinksmarter on twitter: Yeah. They can't have people up during takeoff, but the plane was still on the ground and apparently still on the taxiway. "During takeoff" usually constitutes "in takeoff roll" or "lift-off" or "in initial climb".
Am I the only one who's thought of this? I didn't see any previous posts mention it, but...
...if they can take the plane back to the terminal because someone ran to the bathroom, then why can't they take the plane back to the terminal after having been sitting on the tarmac for 6 hours? Don't they always use the excuse that once they leave the terminal, they can't go back? Hmm. Sure seems like they can when they actually WANT to.
@MostlyHarmless: You realize that it's pretty easy to get a bomb past security, right? You can make a decent IED with no metallic parts whatsoever and sneak it through in your pockets. Richard Reid (of shoe bomber fame) had a non-metallic IED in his shoes that he was going to detonate with matches. Substitute shoes with pockets and you're successfully past security with an explosive that can bring down a plane.
When my daughter was three, we were on a plane and the little darling announced, quite loudly, that she had to "poop really bad" just as we were pushing back from the gate. I alerted the attendant who was walking by, and she refused to let my kidlet get up and use the bathroom because the plane was already moving. I said that was fine, as long as the other passengers on the plane don't mind smelling the crap that's going to be on the floor all the way from Seattle to Detroit.
She went into the cockpit, the plane stopped, my kid pooped in the potty, we were back on our way, and the rest of the flight was uneventful.
I fully understand the need to go when you have to go. I have had a heart valve operation and the medication I take for this and high blood pressure sometimes gives me very little warning of needing to use the facilities. Not everyone who needs to go is a terrorist, if the crew had bothered to ask they might have avoided turning around and going back to the gate, but then that assumes that airline crews are capable of thinking.
@osiris73: in this case the plane had just left the gate and the plane for the next flight to leave from that gate hadn't arrived yet.
whereas in the "6 hours on the tarmac" situation often there are no open gates available or going back to the gate forfeits their place in line for takeoff. entirely separate circumstances.
Or the man could have just stayed in his seat and do the chores right there. Which would you think UA prefer?
@Shivver: In that case, why even bother with security? All one needs to do is wait till the others have dumbed down a bit, and them make the move.
And yeah, the terrorists are just so automatically programmed to make their moves in the most obvious of manners, right?
@pecan 3.14159265: Sure, why not? There was a time when this would have been perfectly acceptable behavior.
The story on this site neglects to mention that the man removed panels inside the lavatory. Also, he caused a bit of a stir among the other passengers when getting on the plane and was the last or one of the last to arrive. Finally, and unfortunately, he appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent. All these things together became a wad of suspicion (reasonable in my estimation) and the crew was right to act as they did from everything I've heard.
@MostlyHarmless: You need to remember that the real point of airport security is not to actually make you safer, but to inconvenience you so much that you beleive you are safer. After all, why would they do so much seemingly stupid stuff if it wasn't for your own good?
@ribex:
None of those things really should generate suspicion except the whole "removing panels inside the lav" thing. THAT generates suspicion.
People who suffer from the "sudden need to go" should refrain from utilizing transportation that offers only one restroom for 200 passengers.
Airlines could mark the inside of the aircraft doors with "Emergency Restroom" signs, which would free up security personnel in these situations.
Over the summer I was on an American Airlines flight from DFW to LaGuardia. We were on approach to LGA and everyone was seated/buckled in. All of a sudden a young man (probably 19-20ish) got up and literally ran to the bathroom). Well, one of the flight attendants proceeded to get up and bang on the door the entire time he was in there, YELLING for him to get out and get back to his seat. I felt sorry for the guy. Would the airlines rather you crapped in your pants? Sheesh.
Power trippin Trolly Dollies! (yea yea - I know, "Flight Attendants")
Used to be a fun job with a TON of perks, decent pay, easy flexible schedule at the cost of having to kiss a lot of passenger butt (read Stud Terkel's "Working" chapters on airline employees to get an idea of the crap they used to have to put up with) no pun intended)
Post deregulation it's become a horrible way to make a living, and I think a LOT of flight crew have taken the increased safety rules as a way to get a little revenge on the passengers. Just my opinion as a Pre and Post deregulation airline employee.
@AngryK9: Yes, that's the part I'm mulling over. It wasn't like he headed to the cockpit or somewhere he wouldn't be allowed to go at other times; the reason why you have to stay in your seat at takeoff and landing, after all, is for your own safety, not for Homeland Security. This is more the equivalent of somebody who was fossicking in their carryon overhead instead of sitting down, except there are considerably more legitimate reasons to use the bathroom against guidelines.
@AngryK9: That's right. Just like I said, they should have either gone first, used my local mom-and-pop airline, or just gone in their pants. Some people might think I was joking, so I applaud you for realizing that I was being deadly serious.
Emergencies happen. It would be nice if airline employees had the discretion (whether officially or personally) to determine the difference between "terrorist act" and "had a bad burrito at the airport Chili's."