Now That's An Exit

[IronJohn]

Have you read about the Flight Attendant who apparently got fed up and quit in a very dramatic way?

You can read about it here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/08/09/new.york.escape.chute.opened/index.html?hpt=C1

It looks like a passenger was trying to get up and retrieve his bag in the overhead before the pilot gave the all clear sign and the plane was still taxiing. From other articles I've read the passenger hit the flight attendant in the head with the bag or shoved him and the flight attendant had finally had enough.

And I mean enough. He announced some curse words to the passenger on the intercom and said some other explicit words for the world to hear and then said, "I'm outta here" and popped the hatch, blew the inflatable slide and out he went.

They arrested him at his home and he had this smile of a man who had done what he wanted when he wanted and felt that sweet release.

I personally think this guy should be let go and some folk songs sung about him. I've dealt with the public and, frankly, I think what he did is freakin' awesome.

I've been there. He has given hope to all who have had to bite their tongues with @$$holes because they have no choice.

 

[Angus Young]

That reminds me of the movie Falling Down. To be honest I wouldn't want to fly on a plane with a clown like him on board.

 

[Geeno]

To be honest I wouldn't want to fly on a plane with a clown like him on board.

I wouldn't either, but I can certainly understand what might have been going through his mind.

You simply won't believe some of the things I see at airports and on planes these days...it's like people have lost all sense of situational awareness and common decency.


Geeno

 

[RF1963]

it's like people have lost all sense of situational awareness and common decency.

Unfortunately that statement on its own applies to so much of the world these days. That fact makes places like B&B an oasis in the wilderness

 

[DE Shaver]

I personally think this guy should be let go and some folk songs sung about him. I've dealt with the public and, frankly, I think what he did is freakin' awesome.

I've been there. He has given hope to all who have had to bite their tongues with @$$holes because they have no choice.

I can appreciate how dealing with the public is difficult. I deal with the public all the time and, although it's trying to say the least, this is not an appropriate way to tender your resignation. Aside from the fact you become quite unemployable, you've inconvenienced a lot of people (many of whom are decent), committed an act of theft and you've risked someone being injured in an effort to be dramatic. I would be very harsh on this gentleman.

 

[Defend Tacoma]

I heard on the news today that he has already gotten a couple of job offers. What a great story, who hasn't dreamed of doing something similar at one time or another?

 

[Uncle Erik]

Hilarious, but consider that this took the plne out of service, inconveniencing the others on board as well as anyone else who was scheduled to fly on it. And think about the delays it caused for every other plane at the airport. It affected the schedules a few thousand people, at the very least.

 

[flylot]

It is unfortunate that this flight attendant reacted the way he did. The plane being out of service (you wouldn't believe the cost of a deployed slide!) and inconvenience of all involved. The passenger's indiscretion could have been handled better.

I try not to jump to conclusions about the actual events that occurred as first reports and follow up reports from the media are often inaccurate. We have a saying in our business: "It'll all come out in the hearing".

I can say that in the many years of airline work, I have experience some truly inexplicable and despicable behaviour from the flying public. It is a rare occasion indeed when a flight attendant "looses it", their professionalism in this regard is outstanding.

I guess everyone has their "breaking point".

 

[kwk285]

If you choose to get out of bed in the morning you will have interactions with the occasional jerk. You need to realize the person that you are dealing with is a jerk and let it go.

I'm in medical sales. I deal with a lot of jerks. I choose to not give them control over me. Life is to short to sweat the idiots.

 

[Seraphim]

I say that perhaps we need to take a different take on the situation here.

How many of us have sat through the safety instructions onboard, yet failed to pay even the least attention?

Now, every single passenger on THAT plane has seen firsthand how to correctly deploy and use the emergency exit chute.

 

[Ru4scuba?]

You know...look at the silver lining in this. Everyone's always heard about "going Postal" folks who can't take it anymore, have someone step on their last hair and then go a little crazy.

This guy could have done much...much worse. As far as I'm concerned, while horribly frightening and inconvenient for the folks aboard, they should count their lucky stars and kiss their loved ones tonight...they dodged a bullet IMHO!

 

[Tripnastic]

What got me was the part about him taking beer. The whole thing was crazy, but when I read that he stopped to grab beer out of the galley, I lost it!

Then I figured Jet Blue must not have liquor, because I'm gonna bet he needed something stronger than beer right then.

 

[Ru4scuba?]

What got me was the part about him taking beer. The whole thing was crazy, but when I read that he stopped to grab beer out of the galley, I lost it!

Then I figured Jet Blue must not have liquor, because I'm gonna bet he needed something stronger than beer right then.

Even better...it was his little way of giving a "one finger salute" to his bosses...

Not justifying his actions mind you...but glad it ended the way it did!

 

[ouch]

I think the most remarkable part of this story is that it occurred on a day that I flew, and it didn't involve me.

 

[Walker]

I would like to meat this guy and say "Hell Yeah" lol How many of us hasn't felt like a common criminal going through security. Have you ever seen Up in the Air with George Clooney? The one were he is going through security? That's me and my crew. Buying carry on luggage and slip on shoes to make your security check point as painless as possible. Having two sets of clothes and toiletries (one for home and one for work) so you don't have to incur checked baggage fees. Then being told by flight attendants to "sit down", "no portable electronic devices", etc. Your about to **** all over yourself so you get up to use the head and they come on the intercom "the fasten seatbelt sign is still on" i mean come on!! It used to be that flying was considered to be the bees knees. Now it is a pain in the butt. "Here is a 2" space back here, i think we can squeeze someone in it" Well, i've ranted enough. Thanks for flying WalkerAir!

 

[C Reed]

I will never be happy untill I have my own jet. True story.

 

[ouch]

I will never be happy untill I have my own jet. True story.

If that really is true, I fear you may never be happy, even if you do get your jet.

 

[Angus Young]

I would like to meat this guy and say "Hell Yeah" lol How many of us hasn't felt like a common criminal going through security. Have you ever seen Up in the Air with George Clooney? The one were he is going through security? That's me and my crew. Buying carry on luggage and slip on shoes to make your security check point as painless as possible. Having two sets of clothes and toiletries (one for home and one for work) so you don't have to incur checked baggage fees. Then being told by flight attendants to "sit down", "no portable electronic devices", etc. Your about to **** all over yourself so you get up to use the head and they come on the intercom "the fasten seatbelt sign is still on" i mean come on!! It used to be that flying was considered to be the bees knees. Now it is a pain in the butt. "Here is a 2" space back here, i think we can squeeze someone in it" Well, i've ranted enough. Thanks for flying WalkerAir!

To be fair security at airports can be annoying and inconvenient but so can having the plane explode and fall out of the sky.

 

[RF1963]

How many of us hasn't felt like a common criminal going through security. Have you ever seen Up in the Air with George Clooney? The one were he is going through security? That's me and my crew. Buying carry on luggage and slip on shoes to make your security check point as painless as possible.

On another thread someone asked something about not letting the terrorists win. The fact that we are all treated as criminals before we board a flight suggests, IMO, that if they haven't won they are at least winning.

Flying is now a nightmare. Having to answer the same questions to a cop wanna be at numerous points is just unnecessary. The most extreme example are the transit points. Start your journey after finally making it through security and get on the plane. Arrive at transit airport. Get off plane. Walk along a corridor, down a flight of stairs remaining in a sterile area. Meet a new security man in a new country. Same questions! Resist temptation to ask exactly where they think I got a knife/gasoline/rat poison/whatever else is on the prohibited list that I didn't have before I was allowed to board the flight that brought me to this point. Walk along a corridor, up a flight of stairs, reboard aircraft and resume my seat.

I do appreciate that the majority of board members are from the USA and since 2001 things have changed but the extent to which our lives are disrupted is the index which measures how successful the terrorists are.

Rant over!

 

[C Reed]

Some times you just gotta burn some bridges.