Flight Attendant Taken Off Plane After Telling Passengers Plane Will “Likely Crash”

[Whisper]

March 9, 2012 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- A flight to Chicago was delayed three hours after a flight attendant went on rant over the loudspeaker about the plane crashing.


American Airlines Flight 2232 had left the gate in Dallas and was taxiing when the flight attendant started a 15-minute rant over the plane's PA system.

"She said, 'I'm not responsible for this plane crashing,"' Bethany Christakos, passenger, said. "And that's when everybody started freaking out."

"She spoke in and out of Spanish. Talked about the flight crashing, that we were going to go back to the gate," Carolyn Kazmi, passenger, said.

"We were pretty frightened. We knew something was wrong. It was almost like she was talking and didn't realize the PA was on," Stephen Termunde, passenger, said.

"She had said, 'I'm the number one in charge,' something about 23 years being there, started talking about bankruptcy. But it really got everyone's attention when she said, 'There's a problem. We have to go back to the gate,'" Christakos said.

Another flight attendant tried to interrupt, but was shouted down. Flight 2332 remained on ground as the rant continued. Passengers said an off-duty pilot in first class intervened.

"He tried to subdue her, and then the flight attendant that was up there with him tried to assist. And then that's when a couple from first class had to jump in and actually wrestle her to the first couple seats," Termunde said.

Passenger Brad LeClear of Fox Lake, Ill., ran up from coach to help.

"I tried to talk her down and calm her down a little bit. She said she was bipolar. So we continued to hold her until authorities arrived, and when they showed up we helped put the cuffs on. Get her off the plane," LeClear said.

"In my head throughout the whole flight [were] the sounds of her just screaming," Christakos said.

The plane returned to the gate, where it was met by police. The flight attendant was taken to a hospital for evaluation.

American Airlines apologized to passengers. The second flight attendant went to the hospital with what passengers described as a wrist injury.

American Airlines spokesman Ed Martelle said that "an incident occurred involving some of the cabin crew," and that two flight attendants were taken to local hospitals for treatment. He declined to provide their names or information about their injuries or conditions. Martelle said customers were not in danger at any time.

A new crew was called in and the flight made its way to Chicago without incident, arriving about three hours late.
[...]

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sec...cal&id=8575859

[Morbid]

Chicago, IL – Last week we had a story about a family getting kicked off a JetBlue flight because of an unruly toddler, now we got an American Airlines*flight attendant getting kicked off her plane because of a possible mental breakdown. Passengers on flight 2332 got a bit of a FINAL DESTINATION moment Friday morning when one of the flight attendants could be heard over the intercom speaking in and out of Spanish, stating that if the plane took off it was going to crash. “She made two comments, that if we didn’t go back to the gate we would crash,” said passenger Stephen Termunde. “It was almost like she was talking, and didn’t know the PA was on.” Other flight attendants tried to get the intercom phone out of her hands and even enlisted the help of some first class passengers. One of those passengers*said it took about five people to restrain her. “I grabbed her arms, there were about four of us, I guess, five of us, including the flight attendants who actually sat her back down in my seat,” Kevin Ritch*said. “She began talking rants, sporadically church, dying, crashes…” Another passenger helping to keep the woman under control said she mentioned she was bipolar. The plane aborted takeoff and returned to the gate where the woman was escorted off and taken to the hospital for evaluation. One of her*colleagues was also taken to the hospital after getting injured during the melee. “We will ensure that the affected flight attendants receive proper care, and we commend our other crew members for their assistance in quickly getting the aircraft back to the gate so that customers could be*re-accommodated,”*American Airlines spokesman Ed Martelle said. As for Kevin Ritch, Stephen*Termunde, and the rest of the people on flight 2332, someone has a message for you.
This article is from The Dreamin' Demon, the Internet's self-appointed buzzkill.


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[VAS1326]

Wow crazy much. I'm really really glad I wasn't on this flight. It would have scarred my 8 year old for life. His anxiety will sky rocket easily at the mention of danger/something bad happen. My son would have been freaking out right there with her.

I think it's funny she said there was a problem they were going to back to the gate because she never realized she was the problem.

[Obsolete]

My daughter flies alone quite often and the number one wory I have is that her plane will go down and I won't be there with her. I mean, it's bad enough that your plane is crashing but to be a child, alone on a plane that's going to crash is even worse.

Last month she flew to Misouri to visit her friend and they hit a storm on the way. The pilot got on the intercom and was talking calmly to the passengers, trying to assure them that this was normal and it would be over soon. Sissy was fine until midway through a sentence he pauses and says "oh crap, this isn't good", he then continued to talk, with the intercom on, to someone else ( a co-pilot or the control tower) about how he wasn't sure he was going to be able to keep the plane in the air and that he may need to make an emergency landing. That kid is tough as nails just like her mommy but she started crying (something she never does) right there on the plane in front of everyone. It broke my heart when she told me about it, and I kinda wanted to kick the pilots ass.

I get that problems arise while in the air but there isn't any reason to worry people or cause panic when there's nothing they can do.

[WhatThe]

@Obsolete, that is awful. I hope she can put that behind her. When I was young, my dad used to fly for a lot of business trips. He said if you watch the flight attendants and they look calm, you should have nothing to worry about. (this doesn't help in the case of the ones that go crazy, obviously...)

[Obsolete]

@Obsolete, that is awful. I hope she can put that behind her. When I was young, my dad used to fly for a lot of business trips. He said if you watch the flight attendants and they look calm, you should have nothing to worry about. (this doesn't help in the case of the ones that go crazy, obviously...)

She's ok, she shakes things off pretty easily. She still wants to be a pilot so it apparently didn't cause any long term trauma. :)