Airplane Passengers Subdue Man on Flight

[salin]

Airplane Passengers Subdue Troublesome Passenger on Flight From Hawaii to Los Angeles

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES Sept. 14 —
Airplane passengers subdued and then duct-taped a man who was pacing the aisle and reading loudly from the Bible during a flight from Hawaii, police and witnesses said.

No one was injured, and the man was handed over to authorities after the plane landed at Los Angeles International Airport early Sunday, said Sgt. Carl Sansbury of the airport police.

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20030914_1108.html

[proud patriot]

1. My mom is on a flight from SF to Hawaii right now

I think my heart just skipped a beat ...Breathe ...
It's not her flight ...

[lcordero]

2. Pretty innovative

I wonder if it would be feasible to have these Bible thumpers that hang out on the street corner with a megaphone arrested for being a public nuisance or maybe for disturbing the peace.

[grasswire]

4. I can't believe a DU-er said that.

Think for a minute. Do you really want people prevented from speaking their mind in public places??????

Geez!!!!!!!!!!!

[Blitz]

9. Amen!!

eom

[chasqui]

12. Wait a minute!!

These guys are not speaking their minds!

[salin]

14. Perhaps... but I wish they were speaking in

Mimes...

[karlschneider]

17. Excuse the fuck out of me, but if I'm a pax on a plane and some nutball

bastard starts doing that, I'll do more than duct tape the motherfucker.
I'd send him to 'paradise' so fast he wouldn't even find the 72 virgins.

BAH

[NNN0LHI]

20. I wouldn't hurt him

But I promise he would have a one heck of a time retrieving that bible from up his ass when it was all over with.

Don

[karlschneider]

22. ROFL....well, if it was a -really big- bible, I might use that option too.

I guess my perspective as a commercial pilot is a little more, uh,
'intense'. I'd have a very dim view of anybody carrying on like that (and for the record, would have the same reaction if the guy were reading from the Koran and most likely Shakespeare as well...especially if it was something from Hamlet)

[JohnOneillsMemory]

38. These hostile reactions here are disturbing.

OK, maybe there was more disturbance to the other passengers than is described in the excerpt. But I've wondered since 9/11 how much free speech is tolerated on a plane before people freak out and 'subdue' the speaker. Does the Bill of Rights apply at high altitude? I fly frequently and often have political discussions with neighbors about the BFEE, Patriot Act and other relevant topics as an exercise in interactive citizenship. I carry a copy of the US Constitution and it has been handy in discussing the First Amendment with interested strangers. And many are genuinely interested and motivated to explore
recommended websites such as this very one. I've imagined announcing info or exhortations to boot Bush to my fellow travelers but wondered whether I'd get tagged as a 'problem passenger' by the airline staff. Where is the line between acceptable discourse and 'nutjob talk' at 35,000 feet?
Admittedly, confinement requires a delicate group etiquette but not the elimination of communication beyond ordering a drink and a bag of nuts.

[chasqui]

41. Does the Bill of Rights apply

Over international waters?

[sociopath]

21. 72 virgins?

I thought the passenger was reading the Bible? Does the christian faith have these 72 virgins when they die???

Or was he Islamic?

[karlschneider]

23. It was a generic reference to fundy nutballs.

[TahitiNut]

35. "72 virgins"???

What airline has flight attendants like that?

[aquart]

37. I heard that was a mistranslation for raisins. 72 raisins.

Pretty parsimonious eternity if that's true.

[Old and In the Way]

24. Proselytizing on a 5 hour flight where you have no choice but to

listen is not free speech. No one has the right to disturb people who pay money to transit from point A to B. I'd say this meets my definition of "nut case".

[LosinIt]

36. My 18 yr old daughter went off on some Mormons on a 5 hr bus ride

from Salt Lake City to Elko, Nevada. She finally couldn't take their 'conversation' any longer after listening to BibleSpeak for several hours and told them that she didn't pay to have a rolling church service simply a bus ride. One of the guys apologized to her afterwards making her feel badly that she had gone off so harshly. I told her not to worry about it, it is tough being subjected to that when you can't get away.

[soupkitchen]

18. The're exactly the people who the 1st was designed to protect

The people on the street corners, I mean

[NNN0LHI]

28. You think the 1st was designed for some idiot with a bullhorn to stand...

...in front of your house at 2AM screaming about the lawd while you are trying to sleep? Come on now. Get real. Let someone try that it in front of my house sometime at 2AM and see what I think about their rights to the 1st Amendment.

Don

[soupkitchen]

29. Well megaphones aren't protected by free speech

Nor is hanging out in front of someones house at 2 a.m.

[NNN0LHI]

30. Well. That is what the poster said and you agreed he was wrong

>>>I wonder if it would be feasible to have these Bible thumpers that hang out on the street corner with a megaphone arrested for being a public nuisance or maybe for disturbing the peace.<<<

And I worked the midnight shift for 20 years, so the same would hold true at 2PM if I was trying to get some sleep after working all night long. Know what I mean?

Don

[celestia671]

34. I think..

the poster was referring to the ones you see on the street corners in the cities. As long as they're not harrasing or threatening anyone, what's the big deal? Just ignore them.

It's a different story, however, when the person is on an airplane and can't be ignored, or standing outside your house at 2 am.

[Jacobin]

3. Was it that judge from Alabama maybe?

[arcane1]

5. I guess they're trying to kick God out of our airplanes too?

silly fundies...

[PartyPooper]

39. Remember, the movie "Airplane" with Leslie Nielson?

This reminds me so much of that film!

[neomonkey]

6. Ashes To Ashcroft will let this slide

Love the BS obligatory line from the feds:

Eager could face a federal charge of interfering with a flight crew, Sansbury said.


This was a good ol' god-fearing christian from texas, for chrissakes. Do you really think the US justice system will treat him as harshly as he was treated by a bunch of newly-tanned Hawaii-pacified folks just wanting desperately to get home safely?

[Evanstondem]

40. Or Arrest the Passengers

Who subdued the God-fearing Christian.

[_NorCal_D_]

7. Yikes.

Not the smartest thing to do so close to 9/11.

[twilight]

8. duct tape again!

Works every friggin time!

[catzies]

11. Who had the duct tape in their carry-on??

That's what I wanna know.

The flight attendants don't keep a tool box in the cabin, do they?

Where did this duct tape come from?

[Journeyman]

13. And why don't the flight attendants. . .

have a supply of plastic handcuffs on board in the event of such a disturbance? Geez. Do I have to do all of Tom Ridge's thinking for him?

[ewagner]

32. Yes, you do.....n/t

[NNN0LHI]

15. I have been wondering the same thing for about an hour now

But I can promise one thing. The next time I get on a plane I will have a roll with me. Yup.

Don

[Ivory_Tower]

16. I remember that advice from years ago

I always carried duct tape in my carry-on luggage, just in case my checked luggage was damaged on arrival. You use the duct tape to seal up the broken/torn suitcases.

I thought duct tape was banned, though.

[havocmom]

19. If I ever fly again, maybe a duct tape bangle braclet would look good?

Ranting fundies best be forwarned not to even start up around me.

[Whoa_Nelly]

25. Why, everyone has duct tape!

Every American bought duct tape way back when we were all told to use it to seal the plastic on the safe rooms in our homes. So, am sure, as a mtter of self-preservation and peace of mind, any American in their right mind would of course carry duct tape in their carry-ons

(wish there were a .gif for duct tape. )

[NNN0LHI]

26. Here ya go

[Whoa_Nelly]

27. Thanks!

...and just the right size to conveniently fit into my on board makeup case. Hey, this would make a cute lighted compact!

[Fridays Child]

10. Perhaps his behavior was more menacing than the article reveals.

And, if so, I probably would have been relieved to see him subdued and restrained. But maybe that's just me because I hate to fly, anyway. Dealing with a religious whacko onboard would make me jump right out of my skin.

[amber dog democrat]

31. Even under better circumstances

Religeon should be a private matter. Not something to share with distracted fellow passengers.

[old_dad]

33. It is sunday

Perhaps he was just a Southern Baptist minister on his way home from vacation. It is Sunday.

[DS1]

42. They should have tossed his ass out the door and

let him use his bible as God's umbrella

/anti-fundie-zealot

[jsw_81]

43. Crazy fundies

Airplane passengers subdued and then duct-taped a man who was pacing the aisle and reading loudly from the Bible...

Sounds like a freeper!