'This is your captain speaking: Settle down!'

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

It was the airline equivalent of an exasperated parent yelling: “I will turn this car around, and we will go home if you don’t behave!”

After rowdy passengers repeatedly chanted “USA! USA! USA!” during an American Airlines flight Friday from Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., to Phoenix Sky Harbor, the pilot broke over the intercom with a warning for passengers to calm down for the rest of the three-and-a-half-hour flight.

“We’ll put this plane down in the middle of Kansas and dump people off; I don’t care,” said the pilot. “So, behave please.”

If that prompts your inner teenager to roll your eyes, some context helps. Many of the passengers were on their way home from the Jan. 6 protests in Washington, D.C., and the violent and deadly riot by supporters of President Trump at the U.S. Capitol that attempted to halt Congress’ tally of the electoral college votes, the final official acknowledgement of the election win by President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, prior to Wednesday’s inauguration. Along with their boisterousness, many of the chanting passengers had refused to wear face masks as required by the airline’s covid-19 precautions and the urging of the plane’s crew.

-snip-

Airlines, federal lawmakers and the Federal Aviation Administration are about to crack down even harder on rebellious passengers, and we’re not talking about withholding bags of complimentary pretzels.

The FAA announced Monday that causing a risk to safety aboard a flight could result in jail time or a fine up to $35,000.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/editorial-this-is-your-captain-speaking-settle-down/

[Irish_Dem]

1. We have let these nut jobs get away with so much for way too long.

Time to come down on them hard.

[napi21]

2. I honestly don't know if that pilot has the authority to do that, but I'm proud of him for saying

it. I'm sure that at least caught the rioters attention! Would have been at least very entertaining to watch them all tyrying to find a way home from Kansas!

[cloudbase]

4. The pilot does.

§ 91.3 Responsibility and authority of the pilot in command.

(a) The pilot in command of an aircraft is directly responsible for, and is the final authority as to, the operation of that aircraft.

(b) In an in-flight emergency requiring immediate action, the pilot in command may deviate from any rule of this part to the extent required to meet that emergency.

(c) Each pilot in command who deviates from a rule under paragraph (b) of this section shall, upon the request of the Administrator, send a written report of that deviation to the Administrator.

[appalachiablue]

5. The pilot can put people off the plane if they are a danger

or disturbance. A relative told me about a friend who was on the crew of a cross country flight from NY to LA. A female passenger and well known Hollywood actress was very drunk, aggressive and kept harassing a steward.

She threw hot coffee and a cup at him. For that the pilot landed the plane in a city in Ohio, put her off and informed her that she could never fly that airline again.

[Sneederbunk]

3. More names for the No Fly List.