Below the Belch: This Week’s Worst Flyers

Every Friday, FlyerTalk looks back at the week’s most charming individuals. While there are always plenty of contenders for our Worst Passenger of the Week award, only one lucky flyer can take home the glory. Here are this week’s winners.

Third Place – Terrorist Sympathizer Takes to a Beverage Cart Soap Box

When a passenger allegedly sat atop the beverage cart and started spouting pro-ISIS rhetoric on an IndiGO flight from Dubai International Airport (DXB) to Calicut International Airport (CCJ), the cabin crew simply asked the would-be snack cart prophet to climb down from his perch. Remarkably, the man complied with the request and it seemed for a few brief moments that calm had been easily restored.

It wasn’t long, however, before the apparent terrorist sympathizer attempted to revisit his failed mission. This time, the excited passenger was decidedly less compliant. His second attempt to spread a hateful message quickly turned violent. The crew and fellow passengers had to physically restrain the oddly behaving passenger and the captain was forced to make an emergency landing at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (BOM)

Because the out-of-control flyer reportedly made a a production of announcing his solidarity with radical terrorists, the plane was naturally met by an elite anti-terrorism unit. IndiGo officials said that the flight was allowed to continue on to its final destination after a brief delay to remove the offending passenger.

The Runner-up – Tipsy Flyer Belches at Fellow Passengers then Collapses on Child

A flyer on a Ryanair flight headed from Alicante–Elche Airport (ALC) to Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LPL) is accused of verbally harassing fellow passengers and loudly belching repeatedly before eventually falling on top of a small child seated nearby. The 53-year-old man was taken into custody after ignoring several warnings from the crew to curb his crude behavior.

Police say that the incident might be alcohol-related.

“He was sat next to a lady on the flight and he kept being loud and disruptive and he wouldn’t stop burping,” an eyewitness on the flight told The Mail. “She asked him to stop but when he wouldn’t she had to ask the cabin crew to get involved. By that point we’d started to land and the seatbelt signs were on but he stood up and started mouthing off. When they asked him to sit down immediately and gave him his final warning, he then fell over onto a child and the parent of the child understandably got really annoyed.”

The Winner – Creative Storage Solution Goes Wrong

Finding a spot for a carry-on bag can make for some tense moments when boarding a passenger plane. A fellow passenger’s sports coat or hat wasting valuable overhead real estate will certainly cause aggravation. Looking in an apparently empty storage bin only to find that someone has placed a roller-bag lengthwise will test the patience of even the most Zen flyers.

A frustrated passenger on a Cathay Pacific fight preparing to depart from Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) to Bangkok International Airport (BKK) thought he had found a clever solution to his storage woes. Unfortunately, instead of discovering a secret, hidden overhead storage compartment, the confused flyer managed to rip an interior panel off of the ceiling of the plane. Maintenance workers managed to repair and replace the damaged panel but not before the flight was delayed for nearly four hours.

It seems that the unfortunate act of inadvertent vandalism was not the result of yet another case of air rage. Cathay Pacific officials confirmed that the interior panel in question looks enough like a storage bin door that similar panels on some of the airline’s aircraft are marked to alert passengers not to attempt to pry the panel open. In this case, the damaged ceiling piece was reportedly not labeled.

While the shame-faced passenger was forced to share his humiliation with the 280 other passengers on the flight, the Cathay Pacific officials did their best to limit the embarrassment. The carrier’s statement to the media made absolutely no mention of the traveler’s cringeworthy mistake. “Cathay Pacific flight CX705 from Hong Kong to Bangkok on 20 July, scheduled to depart at 8.15am, was delayed as a fixed panel of the overhead compartment was found damaged before take-off and repair was required,” the airline matter-of-factly reported.

[Photo: Daily Mail]