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Flight attendant photographs obese passenger / safety hazard
The story behind this photo is that a flight attendant on an American Airlines flight pulled out her camera phone to show how airlines deal with the problem of obese passengers. As you can see, no amount of seat belt extenders is going to help this fellow "of size".
The photo was sent to Kieran Daly at Flightglobal, and according to the source, it is 100% authentic. Commenters who were on the flight say the poor passenger in the middle was pulled from the flight, given a voucher for his inconvenience and put in first class on the next flight.
In my opinion, American Airlines should have denied the man boarding until he ponied up the cash for a second (or third) seat. Letting him board, and then forcing another passenger to be bumped is pretty unfair.
| Only if he purchased a second seat | |
|---|---|
| No, even with a second seat, he is too big for the emergency exit, aisle and bathroom | |
| He purchased a ticket, leave him alone and let him fly |
Filed under: Airlines
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 4)
Cam Dec 14th 2009 9:50AM
I don't know how much Taron flies but not all armrest stay stationary on the aisle seats on all models of airliners. Far as the robust fellow in the picture goes, I am all for equal rights and fairness to everyone, also I am a fairly large man myself being 6' and about 240lbs but lets all be honest here, that is a safety issue in an emergency situation. Do we know when emergencies happen?? No, but when they do people move quickly, react without thinking and panic. The gentleman is in the aisle he poses a risk factor if an emergency occurs.Giving this into thought and following FAA guidelines,(for luggage not people,yet) if it don't fit it doesn't go on the plane. I'm sorry if I offend anyone but that is the truth of what I see in the photo.
Greg Dec 11th 2009 12:16PM
I'm 6'4" and not heavy. I alway try any sit in an emergency aisle seat for the legroom. On a flight from Jacksonville a "Person of size" sat next to me and partially on me. My first thought was if they are going to be occupying part of my seat, they should be paying for part of it. When the refreshment cart came by I couldn't open the armrest to get my tray table because it was under them. They had to get up, so I could get to it. Then I thought this person wont fit through the emergency door I'm sitting next to, so in effect, I'll be the only person getting out this door. Thats a serious problem! I'm all for the idea of a bench seat, at no extra cost, but lets not put it next to the emergency exit.
dido248834 Dec 13th 2009 9:23AM
Judging by that pic, the guy most ALSO be 8' tall. Which might even make his weight proportionate to his height. Make him buy two seats and then leave him ALONE.
mcfedr Dec 14th 2009 10:06AM
clearly this man should not be allowed to fly, he's a safety hazard to everyone else and himself, probably does more damaging block radio traffic than the cell phones of everyone else put together...im surprised he had the energy to walk all the way from the drop off to the airplane to be honesty...
Helen Dec 14th 2009 6:53PM
Discrimination is discrimination whatever way you look at it, as far as i am aware no overweight person has caused any safety issue upto date on any commercial flight that does not mean it has not happened before or may not happen in the future. As for viruses, well as any medical person will testify they pose a much higher risk because of their propensity to infect large numbers of people in a very small amount of time especially airbourne viruses, speaking of viruses what about people who have Hiv or Hepititus are they banned from air travel ? because in the unlikely event of a passenger plane crashing and the unusual event of their being survivors wouldnt there be a strong chance of people with injuries and open wounds contracting thses illnesses from infected blood ? my point is, i am sure if we looked hard enough we could find safety issues with many people who use air travel so why pick on overweight people ... as for you remark about anorexia i am sure someone with that illness would be very weak and unable to reach a safety exit quickly and could be trampled to death by others in the panic ? . Should tall broad shouldered people be stopped from flying incase they block the emergency exits ,should people with Haemophilia be stopped from air travel incase they sustain an injury and bleed to death in the event of being injured but surviving a crash ? I could sit here and mention many illnesses and medical conditions that could if looked at closely be contrued as unsafe for either themselves or others , I apologize to any one with the medical conditions mentioned this is not a discrimination against you , you have the same right to travel as a fit and healthy person , i am just trying to draw comparisons to none overweight people being in line for the next group to be discriminated against. Just a point in fact people .... Obesity is a recognized medical condition. Perhaps we could ban McD*nalds, B*rger King , and many more fast food outlets from selling unhealthy food, we could get the goverment to get full time well paid jobs for the unemployed just think of the exercise that would generate and the kilos that would be shed , we could lessen the price of all fruit and healthy foods ban cars from all city and town areas so the overweight people would have to walk or cycle , maybe instead of discriminating against people we should be trying to help
not by ostracizing them but by practical logical ways , maybe the Flight attendent should start a petition to help these people ! that is when shes not to busy taking photos on her mobile phone while working..............
Helen Dec 14th 2009 6:58PM
By the way Greg i agree that you shouldnt have people encrouching on your seating space , but from my experience medium sized people have a job fitting into the average air chair !! and i have seen tall people literally with their knees under their chins, maybe the airlines should think less about how many people they can cram onto one aircraft and make the seating more comfortable for everyone of all sizes. Just a point in fact if an overweight person managed to get into the plane via the aircraft door then he/she should also be able to exit :)
Tamirose Dec 15th 2009 12:11PM
I have counted MANY open seats on this flight and something is fishy with this whole thing. The two seats behind him are open (unless there are children) and look around and you will see many, many seats that are available. The flight attendants created this mess. They certainly could have moved a few people around and found 2 open seats side by side where the other passengers' lives would not have been placed in danger. I realize that there are people up in the aisle and let's figure 3 in the head, but that still leaves MANY open seats for this NOT to happen. On some planes ALL arm rests go up, since I for one, when I pre-board a plane, push each arm rest up as I move into my seat to make it easier for all other passengers to get to their seats - then we can sort out what arm rest we want/need and how much space we would rather have instead. I think this is a shame that the flight attendant and the airlines personnel at the gate could not have foreseen this issue and planned ahead. Shame on the airlines.
Dana Dec 22nd 2009 3:06PM
Federal Aviation Regulations state that the outside armrest needs to be down for takeoff and landing. How is this man going to be able to put his armrest down? I am a flight attendant and I encounter this problem on a daily basis. This man is blocking an aisle! it is a safety issue. When I push the service cart through the cabin I have to squeeze it past people and they look at me as if I am the problem when they are spilling into the aisle. I agree that everything is tight but thats how you get the $49 tickets to disney. If you want more room, pay more! If you don't fit, stay home. If its a problem for you, drive!
Trevor Jan 8th 2010 8:31PM
There is more to this picture than meets the eye. The middle passenger is leaning over towards the big man as if they are reading from the same paper. Right behind the big man are two obviously empty seats. It looks like whoever took this picture has an agenda to push.
Larry Jan 21st 2010 11:56AM
Unless I totally missed my photoshop classes, this appears to be a photoshopped image. To my knowledge, the asile-side arm rests on most planes do not go up; therefore, since we can't see the arm rest in the picture, it must be extending into the man's behind. Hardly likely. In addition, there's no shadow on the floor from the man's body. Although the picture brings to light a valid issue. I believe the photo itself is a prank.