Better pack some mentho-lyptus vapor-action candy-meds next time you fly Continental Airlines. A 16-year old was kicked off a scheduled flight from Newark to Honolulu because she was coughing.

Moments after Collier was seated, she began to cough uncontrollably — suffering from a cold she caught from some of her friends earlier in the week. After a few minutes, members of the flight staff asked the teen if she was OK. […] “A doctor onboard even did a brief physical, said she sounded clear, to give her some NyQuil and she’d be fine, but the pilot didn’t want to listen to that.” Instead, according to Collier, he stepped in and asked that she be taken off the flight.

The teen, part of a school group, was left behind. A teacher stayed behind too, to chaperone.

The pilot’s reaction might have made sense if there had been no medical evaluation. A truly ill person isn’t well-served getting on a plane that spends 10 hours in the air, nearly half of those over the Pacific Ocean. But a physician examined and cleared the passenger as good-to-go.

Sounds like the pilot wanted to play doctor. — MARK ASHLEY

Captain Cans Coughing Teen From 10-Hour Flight [ABC News]
(Photo: The BrassPotato)

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