Revolting - and it's about time.

[Richard D]

ON July 29, Continental Flight 1669, a 737-700 with about 120 passengers aboard, was bound for Newark from Caracas, Venezuela, when bad weather caused the plane to be diverted to Baltimore. It sat there for about five hours with passengers on board as food and water ran low and toilets became filthy.
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Chris Gash

Since Dec. 29, there have been hundreds of reports of passengers unable to get off parked airplanes for 6, 8 and even 12 hours. Just last weekend, for example, a Customs computer breakdown at Los Angeles International Airport stranded more than 17,000 international passengers on planes, some for more than 10 hours.

But what made the Continental flight somewhat different was that passengers organized and protested by clapping in rhythm and drumming on overhead bins. Finally, the pilot, worried about mayhem, called the police.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/business/14road.html?ex=1344744000&en=f4a809a52ad148a5&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

[hobbit709]

1. Riot in cellblock nine

[YOY]

2. If you can...take the train.

We're nicer! (and faster if you're going from one major urban center on the North-East to another (Philly, DC, Baltimore, NYC, Boston...hell even Wilminton, DE.)

[valerief]

5. Absolutely. And you walk about freely. It's the only way to travel. Except for the crumbling bridges

[YOY]

7. Actually our bridges are still holding up

With the increase in High Speed Rail on the East and West coast corridors they're fine.

Now the midwest...not too sure...

[valerief]

10. Good to hear! I love the train. nt

[Lex]

3. I'm surprised passengers don't just open the side emergency exits

which would then probably deploy the slide-thingies and just slide down and off the plane.

Last week when I was flying that was my plan should we get stuck in one of those 5 hours on the tarmac situations.

[valerief]

6. I thought the same thing, but then I figured they probably only work in movies. nt

[Lex]

8. Plus homeland security would probably arrest me

for something they made up about being disruptive.

[valerief]

9. No, they'd have you carrying a bomb. Disruptive isn't headline-grabbing enough. nt

[marmar]

4. I take it there were a lot of non-Americans on the flight?

People in other countries seem to "get it" that sometimes you've got to raise a little hell to affect change.

[RaleighNCDUer]

11. OTOH, non-Americans might be doubly wary of causing a disturbance,

knowing that DHS is watching them.

Kind of like how I decided to never visit Texas, after reading about the guy who got 20 years for having 3 marijuana seeds in his ashtray (early 70s). You just don't take chances with an irrational system.