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Irate first class passenger pulls emergency slide, leaves plane
There seems to be no shortage of stupid things passengers are doing on planes these days.The latest boneheaded move happened in Guyana this past Friday. A first class passenger on a Delta flight from New York to Guyana became so angry that economy passengers were exiting the plane before him that he activated the plane's emergency slide and used it to leave the plane.
The Associated Press, via MSNBC.com, is reporting that airport authorities in Guyana promptly arrested the man, who they described as intoxicated. The man posted bail and was released not long after the incident.
Delta says it intends to press charges against the man on the grounds that he obstructed the flight crew.
For those of you out there wondering how much of a hassle it is to repack the emergency slide, Gadling's resident flight attendant Heather Poole says it is a huge expense for an airline, which has to take the plane out of service. "It doesn't get fixed quick, that's for sure," she says.
Thanks, Ben, for tipping us off to the story!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
nadine Jul 7th 2008 3:38PM
aeons ago when i was flying the now defunct Eastern Airlines, one of the caterers accidentally pulled one of the emergency slides. i remember hearing the pilot go "i've never seen THAT before"...
they didn't have a slide in stock at DC's National Airport, so they had to fly one in from Miami. Needless to say our 5 pm flight didn't get airborn until almost midnight.
gary Jul 7th 2008 8:22PM
Idiots like this should be banned from flying ever again.
Mike Jul 8th 2008 1:09AM
Don't you wish airlines would do that ? But then again, lets not forget who sells the alcoholic beverages to their passengers ? What goes around comes around. But that's not a good thing for other passengers.
John Casy Jul 7th 2008 8:28PM
Good for this guy. Its time flyers take charge if they need to.
!st class should get off first.
Flight crews need to be put in there place at times
John Jul 7th 2008 8:34PM
John Casey give me a break. The majority of first class passangers are there on miles that their company paid for. No money ever came out of their pocket. If not paid for by company they earned the miles by having them credited from a credit card that offers miles for every dollar spent. Shame on the flight attendents for serving him enough to get drunk. They should have cut him off.
Claire Jul 7th 2008 10:32PM
Your an idiot!
Raven Jul 7th 2008 11:38PM
Yeah... There's this thing called "patience." Radical idea, I know. But if people would exercise it more often, fewer wars would be fought.
Kate Jul 8th 2008 2:22AM
If you are going to treat first class like economy then why charge more? It doesn't matter who paid for the ticket, first class is first class.
John Jul 7th 2008 8:35PM
Usually the flight attendent disengages the slide when the plane is at the gate and the slide cannot be activated. To activate the slide you have to have it engaged and hooked at the bottom.
Sherry Powell Jul 7th 2008 8:37PM
So I guess if you have enough money to fly first class you think you have the right to do whatever you choose. Amazing how money makes people loose all common sense.
mightymojohand Jul 8th 2008 1:48PM
airlines, take notice:
having paid a premium price, a customer most certainly may expect preferred treatment.
Don Jul 7th 2008 8:55PM
Can we say a Spoiled BRAT. He needs a spanking and then a big smack in the mouth
bluesdog Jul 7th 2008 9:04PM
don't spank him, he'd enjoy it. just ban his a55 from flying
steve4x4 Jul 7th 2008 9:12PM
Make him pay the airline for the lost money due to being late. make him pay for eveyone's ticket on his flight and the flight after that. Make him pay the saleries of the people who had to repack a new slide into the plane. Bottom line, stupidity will COST ya!
Steve
alwystraveln Jul 9th 2008 4:59PM
Almost all passengers I have encountered think they are owed something. If you charge the passenger for releasing the exit and wasted time, then how about we all start charging the airlines for our time wasted and the real cost of our lost luggage. How about the airlines charge all the idiots who bring on luggage too large to fit in the overhead. Oh yeah and while we are talking about people who think they deserve special treatment, anyone too big to fit in your seat, buy two!!!!! or three or however many you need! Go business or first class.
Try sitting next to some lard a@# for 25 hrs who is too cheap to purchase a seat big enough for them!
There are some flight attendants who like the power they have been given since 9/11. They need to be brought back inline. We have tried to limit our flying because of the TSAs lack of knowledge of their own policies and think they know it all flight attendants.
Diann Jul 7th 2008 9:14PM
Buttttt, you cannot blame him for being angry. If you had paid the big bucks for first class, and been totally ignored, you might be angry too. Clearly he paid plenty for his airline seat. Take that you airlines. :)
margaret Jul 7th 2008 9:27PM
Thanks Diann- for recognizing the rude behavior of the economy class passengers. I can't condone what the idiot did with the emergency exit. But as one who flies first class as a special treat when my personal miles accumulate, I cannot believe the awful behavior of people pushing forward from the economy section. It just seems to go with all the "me first" attitudes in today's society!
tracey Jul 7th 2008 9:47PM
I've worked for a major airline for nearly thirteen years in those thirteen years I can count on two hands how many airline first class passengers actually paid full price for their first class ticket. Like it was mentioned before 99% of first class passengers are there on company paid miledge points or they earned points by charging up their own personal miledge earning charge cards. Regardless, if the idiot wasn't intelligent enough to say excuse me step into the aisle and walk off first or too drunk to function he needed to remain seated and sober up. Pulling the chute, which deploys at 300 plus miles per hour was not only stupid but could have killed rampers on the ground, hit a fuel truck and caused an explosion, or damaged nearby airplanes and vehicles. If the 200 lb door had by some chance malfunctioned upon chute release it would have been propelled several hundred feet killing and detroying anything in its path. But, hey...at least the drunk A** would be off before the other less important passengers....like you all said, good for him, he'll show those big mean airlines for making him fly and wait to get off!!!!
Karaina Jul 7th 2008 9:26PM
Well.It was ridiculous, and probably because he *was* drunk.I wouldn't have done it, but he's given me an idea...;-)
But--airlines are notorious for leaving and arriving late anyway.
Hours sometimes,not minutes.
And then it does take forever to get off a plane.
So, maybe they should speed it up.
Nowadays they're so darn afraid smeone is a terrorist, it's a big deal to fly.My freind with an olive-skinned complxion who is not even Middles Estern but Latino and Greek hates flying because they always detain him.
If I fly during the summer it's easier because I wear open sandals(flip- flop types) so I don't have to take my shoes off.
I don't check luggage either, because I might not ever see it again.
So yeah this guy was a jack-ass, but so are the airlines.
margaret Jul 7th 2008 9:38PM
Karaina
I'm fair skinned, blue eyed with light hair and I get pulled many times so the airlines can show they are not "racial profiling." Doesn't bother me. People who complain would be the first to sue the airlines and government if they lived through a terrorist threat on a plane.
BTW I'm NOT involved with the airlines or security in any way. I just never want to see another 9/11 or hijacking. That's what will happen when we become complacent again.