Flight canceled after pilot curses at passengers
04-07-2007, 12:02 PM
#1
Gets Weekends Off
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Flight canceled after pilot curses at passengers
(CNN) -- Northwest Airlines canceled a flight with 180 passengers aboard after the pilot began cursing at passengers while the plane was being prepared for takeoff in Las Vegas on Friday, airline officials and witnesses said.
The cancellation disrupted Easter travel plans for many of the passengers.
From the moment the captain stepped aboard Flight 1190 to Detroit, passengers reported hearing him use "animated" language while talking on his cell phone, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor told CNN.
"He was having a fit, swearing up a storm," a passenger on the flight said. "He was saying 'F this' and 'F that.'"
When confronted about it by passengers, the pilot became "obscene" and began cursing at the customers, she said. "He made a big disturbance."
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and the local FAA flight standards office were notified, Gregor said. Police arrived on the scene, pulled the pilot aside and interviewed him.
He was not administered a field sobriety test. CNN was unable to immediately contact the police officers involved.
The FAA officials called Northwest Airlines headquarters. The airline decided to remove the pilot from the aircraft and fly him to Detroit for further questioning.
Northwest Airlines then canceled the flight, apologized for the delay and offered hotel accommodations and penalty-free re-booking on the next available flight out of Las Vegas, a spokesman for the airline said.
The airline said "a review of the matter" was being conducted and the decision to cancel the flight was made "due to reports of inappropriate language by a crew member."
Mike Fergus, an FAA spokesman, said the FAA's flight standards investigation unit was looking into the incident. According to Fergus, the FAA has the authority to send a "letter of admonition" to the pilot or, in the most extreme cases, revoke a pilot's FAA certificate, which would ground the pilot.
"I had to call and cancel two family dinners and we're stuck here an extra night," a passenger said. "We've been at the airport for six hours waiting -- it's chaos. It's Easter weekend...we want to be home."
Last edited by Dog Breath; 04-07-2007 at 01:23 PM. Reason: removed profanity
04-07-2007, 01:04 PM
#5
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Joined APC: Apr 2007
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Posts: 39
I wonder what the guys deal was. I can see how he could have been upset talking on his phone but to curse off a few passengers was just a stupid thing to do.
There could have been a better way to deal with the situation. But hey, I don't work there.
There could have been a better way to deal with the situation. But hey, I don't work there.
04-07-2007, 01:24 PM
#7
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Joined APC: Jan 2006
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Posts: 40,410
91.??? where exactly is the reg that prohibits the PIC from offending the public?
I'd like to see the FAA attempt enforcement action for that...his company has grounds to chew his ass, but not the feds.
I'd like to see the FAA attempt enforcement action for that...his company has grounds to chew his ass, but not the feds.
04-07-2007, 01:33 PM
#9
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2005
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Posts: 1,126
What the heck was his fellow pilot doing. We don't need to be responsible for babysitting each other, but there is the whole wingman thing. He could have closed the door or done something to mitigate what the passengers could plainly see and hear. I fly cargo, but it seems to me that this could have been avoided. Maybe it was the capt and he had been cursing at the FO all day and the FO let him hang himself?
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