Man barges into cockpit, damages an American Airlines plane: Twitter guesses why
A man went berserk during boarding an American Airlines flight in Honduras, broke into the cockpit, damaged flight controls and tried to jump out of the cockpit window. Twitter has hilarious reactions.
Passengers on flights can be annoying. Some cause ruckus refusing to wear a mask – a very Covid-19 incident – or some may just go berserk screaming and kicking during the length of the flight. There have been quite some bizarre and out-of-bounds passengers on flights throughout aviation history, which makes some question what made them snap.
Here is one more to add to the list that seems to have set new standards for being the century’s worst airline passenger.
MAN GOES BERSERK ON AA FLIGHT
During the boarding process of an American Airlines (AA) flight from San Pedro Sula, Honduras to Miami in the US, a man went berserk. ABC News reported that he ran up the jetway, broke into the cockpit of the AA flight, damaged the flight controls and even tried to jump out of the window in the cockpit, as a surprised pilot unsuccessfully tried to stop him.
The identity of the man is still unknown. This video filmed by an eye-witness shows the man sticking out his torso from the window of the cockpit.
— Ariel Sierra (@ArielSierra) January 12, 2022
Fortunately, the flight was still grounded when the incident occurred. The man was apprehended by the local authorities and a replacement flight was arranged by American Airlines for the trip.
— Ariel Sierra (@ArielSierra) January 12, 2022
It is still unknown what exactly went wrong with the man for him to behave in such a manner. However, in 2021 the US Federal Aviation Administration reported that cases of unruly passengers have increased five-fold since 2020, with increasingly aggressive behaviour. The US FAA received 5,980 complaints of unruly passengers of which 4,290 were mask-related incidents, 2021.
WHAT NETIZENS ARE SAYING
Twitter on the other hand has been getting creative as to what may have gone wrong with the man. Here are some hilarious and sarcastic ones:
Did the pilot have a Let’s Go Brandon sticker anywhere in view of the nut job⁉️
— Kari Hagen ?? (@Carykari) January 12, 2022
This Twitter user brought up the incident where an American Airlines pilot was seen sporting a ‘Let’s go Brandon’ sticker on his luggage. It is a political slogan used as a minced oath for ‘F*ck Joe Biden’ in the US. AA had responded to the incident back in 2021 saying that appropriate measures were being taken.
Some netizens were not surprised that the incident occurred in Honduras, or on a flight connecting to Miami. We wonder why there’s such an image of passengers from the US state of Florida.
Before forming the usual opinions... this is in Honduras, folks.
— You Bunch Of Marks (@youbunchofmarks) January 12, 2022
I waited patiently until the word Miami appeared. pic.twitter.com/uuopt3H5SP
— Bjoern Michaelsen (@Sweet5hark) January 12, 2022
Others just excused his behaviour saying that everyone has their bad days, or perhaps he wasn't happy being served peanuts instead of pretzels or enough legroom on the flight. We can all understand the frustration.
Had was just having a bad day.
— Karina, no longer quiet. (@soggyduck) January 12, 2022
Probably not enough leg room.
— Julian Watson (@JulianMWatson) January 12, 2022
may be he wasn't too enthused about the fact that this flight serves peanuts and not pretzels ?
— laissez-faire (@laissezfaire_0) January 12, 2022
It is likely that the man is banned by the airlines in the future.
PREVIOUS INCIDENTS
American Airlines has had its fair share of bizarre occurrences and unruly passengers. In 2017, a man tried to break into the cockpit of an AA flight mid-air in Honolulu. He was restrained and later detained upon landing.
In other cases, an AA pilot broke down talking about being sexually abused as a child in the PA system, passengers on a Miami-bound flight were also asked to put their hands up in the air during landing.