Passenger punches flight attendant over blocked aisle

[liberal N proud]

You know the angst that occurs when nature calls and your path to the loo isn't as clear as you would hope?

A 63-year-old Massachusetts man on a JFK-bound American Airlines flight found his path to the bathroom blocked by a beverage cart early Thursday. His response? He repeatedly kicked and knocked over the cart — and then punched a flight attendant — according to a report in the New York Post.

Sources told the paper that Michael Isabelle, flying into New York from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, punched flight attendant Carlos Carrico in the stomach after the crew member grabbed his arm.

"We did have a disruptive passenger on board the flight," confirmed American Airlines spokesperson Ed Martelle. "He was subdued and turned over to local law enforcement on arrival in New York."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41192502/?gt1=43001

[krispos42]

1. Did they Mirandize him?

Why is the Obama Administration coddling terrorists?



:sarcasm:

[CTyankee]

and you don't want to be subdued and turned over to local law enforcement on arrival

in New York...

I saw the world's biggest, toughest, meanest looking NYPD officer push thru a horde of passengers getting off my flight from Madrid to JFK, trying to get at some perp. Since there was no altercation on the flight, my guess it was something like an outstanding warrant for arrest. But man, I wouldn't want to be turned over to that NYPD dude...he looked like he meant business...

[rfranklin]

2. When you gotta go, you gotta go....

Probably suffering from an enlarged prostate.

[DURHAM D]

4. Isn't that what Depends are for? nt

[crim son]

3. Presumably there was only one bathroom on the plane.

Otherwise, WTF?

[rfranklin]

5. Probably wasn't allowed into first class...

where they have the bathrooms with showers and a sauna which are great after you get your complimentary massage.

[a la izquierda]

32. On US-bound international flights...

if you're in coach, you cannot use any bathroom other than those in your area of the cabin. I just flew in from Mexico, and that is what they announced.

Oh, and I wanna know on which flights you get a massage. I got bumped to first class last week, and I was stoked to just get free booze.

[CTyankee]

6. Haven't been to SA in many, many years, but international flights from Europe

have plenty of bathrooms...they're pretty big planes...lots of people and they need more than a couple of bathrooms. I've never had a problem getting to one...

[LuckyLib]

7. Flight attendants need combat pay to deal with these crazies. Heard from a

friend recently that a 70 year old woman tried to hang herself on a trans-Atlantic flight, using her scarf. She then bit a flight attendant trying to calm her down. A sky marshall had to baby-sit her for the rest of the flight.

As far as I'm concerned, anyone disrupting a flight should end up in handcuffs until arriving to the destination to meet the cops/FBI.

[valerief]

8. Why don't they just move the carts for people who need to use the toilet? How hard is that? nt

[liberal N proud]

9. You ever tried to move an 18 inch cart down a 19 in isle

With snags to catch ever 24 inches with elbows and assholes sticking into the space.

Moving those carts is not an easy as it sounds.

Some asshole passengers think they need to run up and down the isles the whole flight. Why can't they stay in their seat for a couple of hours?

[reggie the dog]

16. i am not an asshole for sticking my leg or elbow out

i dont bitch if i get hit by the drink cart, i even say that it is my fault and tell the flight attendant not to worry about it when they say sorry for something that is not even their fault to begin with

[liberal N proud]

23. But a few assholes stick out in the crowd

[valerief]

18. Why don't they make the carts thinner? nt

[liberal N proud]

20. Thinner carts would be worse

The would get turned sideways easier and get caught more on the seats.

This was an international flight, the plane most likely had a lavatory fore and aft from where the violent passenger was located and they could have gone the other way.

Just because you pay for the airline to take you from point A to point B does not give one the right to abuse the flight attendants. They are not there just to serve you but more importantly to protect you from and serve as a guide in the event of an accident.

And people treat them like shit. It is their job, and no one deserves to be treated poorly in their job, but dealing with the public, you get treated like shit.

[valerief]

25. Thinner carts would be BETTER. You're pulling stuff outta your keister, pal.

:rofl:

[liberal N proud]

28. Are you an engineer?

The engineers who design airplanes have this all figured out.

This is what us engineers do, optimize designs of what ever it is we are in charge of.

[MadMaddie]

10. No room

anytime I see that they are getting the cart out if I need to go I get up and go....or end up stuck. No excuse for his behavior.

[valerief]

19. No. No excuse for the way the airlines treat passengers either.

They could use thinner carts to move to the end of the aisle more easier. People gotta pee.

[liberal N proud]

22. See my post above,

People are only getting back what they have dealt the flight attendant.

Treat them as people and they might just return the favor.

[valerief]

24. What does that have to do with thinner carts??? nt

[liberal N proud]

26. Thinner carts will twist in the isle easier than wider carts

The more the clearance the easier it is to get it bound up.

Engineers have gone over all of this and designed the carts to the optimum size barring the feet and shoulders that hang over the arm rest.

It comes down to the fact that no one has to treat another human being with violence and that is what the OP was about, a man hitting a flight attendant.

[valerief]

33. OMG, like they HAVE to make them with shopping cart wheels. Bwahahaha!

:rofl:

[liberal N proud]

36. You can review the designs specification for in-flight service carts here

http://standards.sae.org/as8056/

Download $65.00

Your call!

[MadMaddie]

30. Airlines pick how many seats go into each row

they try to pick the max amt of seats on each side which reduces how wide the aisle is.

They also pick the type of cart that they want to use for service.

I am not making any excuse for how passengers are treated but everything passengers experience results from those business decisions the airline made.

I fly Delta or Alaska when I can, I haven't had any issues.

[DawgHouse]

35. I was on a flight recently

sorry I don't remember which airline, but there were two lavs in the back for coach and the others were in 1st class. A man and his daughter were near the front and the beverage cart was blocking his path to the ones in the back of the plane. His daughter urgently needed to go so he took her toward the front (1st class) and was told they couldn't use it and had to wait until the aisle was clear and use one of the lavs in the back. He said something to the flight attendant and she reluctantly allowed them to use 1st class.

Still, no reason to assault a flight attendant but sometimes, people do really need to go and it's not so easy to crawl over a beverage cart!

[mainer]

11. As one who always needs to use the lavatory...

I understand his panic. Really, planes should have more restrooms.

[PavePusher]

12. Then be prepared for more expensive tickets. n/t

[Darth_Kitten]

13. Abusing people is okay?

No, thank you.

[mainer]

14. Didn't say I agree with abuse. Only that I understand panic.

When did I say abusing people was okay?

Honestly, just because I feel sympathy for another human being who's about to wet his pants, you accuse me of advocating violence. It's amazing.

[mainer]

15. btw, a commercial pilot friend of mine says...

whenever one of his passengers gets unreasonable or goes bonkers, it's always about fear. And what he counsels the flight attendants to do is address that fear. It's worked every time for him.

In this case, I think the passenger (maybe an elderly man?) was terrified of being humiliated with soaking wet pants. And didn't know how to handle that anxiety.

[Violet_Crumble]

29. You don't know that the attacker was going to wet his pants...

There's nothing at all about that in the article that paints him in any sort of sympathetic light, though I've noticed you've posted more than once now that he was about it. Do you have some other information that isn't available in the article?

[mainer]

31. It says the 63-year-old passenger needed to go to the loo

Why else would he be so frantic to get past the cart?

I think this just speaks to the difference in how people look at a story.

Some people read it (and it's not very detailed) and automatically yell: "ASSHOLE! String him up!"

I look at the story and wonder about the human being and what was really going on. Whether he was scared or panicked. Whether he was about to have a humiliating accident. Having worked in emergency rooms and psychiatric wards, I've learned that if you don't ask those very simple, human questions, you will condemn to death the diabetic, the schizophrenic, or the immigrant who can't speak English. Not everyone who appears drunk is drunk. And the apparent asshole may in fact be just another human being in dire straits.

I've also flown on just about every jet in commercial use, on every continent except Antarctica. And trust me, it is possible to get isolated by beverage carts so that you can't reach a restroom for an hour, even more.

[Violet_Crumble]

34. No, it says he wanted to go and punched and kicked the cart...nothing justifies this at all...

Most people read this story and show some concern about the poor person who that fuckwit assaulted, something that I notice doesn't rate even the smallest mention in yr post. It's all about portraying the violent individual in as sympathetic light as possible...

If you've been stuck without being able to get to a toilet for over an hour, that's yr own fault for not letting a flight attendant know that you need to go.

[liberal N proud]

21. Most planes have lavatories fore and aft

Some even mid cabin. This was an international flight so I am certain it had more than one lavatory and the passenger could have gone the other direction.

I just wonder, those who are defending this asshole would appreciate being treated like shit at while trying to preform their jobs?

Flight attendants are people too.

[Violet_Crumble]

27. Most planes have toilets in different areas....

So I don't understand his panic, nor why anyone would attack a flight attendant. What a fucking lunatic that guy must be. I hope they throw the book at him....

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

38. The aircraft would have been a 767-300. There are 6 lavs, 4 in coach:

The blue dots show their location.

[marmar]

17. Assholishness has reached epidemic proportions.

nt

[Ron Green]

37. I'm getting more into riding the train...

and I'd seriously consider ship travel of some kind if I had to cross an ocean.