VIDEO: Flight Attendant Nods Off While Giving Safety Brief
Jeff Edwards September 24, 2015
A Southwest flight attendant forgets to turn on his mike and then gives passengers a slurred safety briefing before closing his eyes and appearing to doze off.
Flight attendants are almost constantly in public view while on the job. Sometimes this can earn crew members unfair judgement for daring to eat or take a break during an eight-hour long flight, but in some cases the flying public’s watchful eye can be a good thing. A passenger who recorded a disturbing video of a Southwest Airlines flight attendant slurring words and appearing to fall asleep while briefing passengers about safety rules before takeoff on a flight from Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport (BHM) to Dallas Love Field (DAL) almost certainly exposed a concerning and potentially dangerous situation.
The passenger who posted the video to LiveLeak noted that “Prior to recording the video, the attendant was speaking into the handset, but had no idea there was no audio, until he pressed the mic button.”
After watching the flight attendant struggle through the beginning of the safety announcement, the passenger then began to take video of the crew member and soon after captured footage of the flight attendant seeming to nod off mid-sentence.
While some have speculated that the flight attendant appeared to be intoxicated in the video clip, Southwest said that there was no indication that this was the case.
“Due to a concern raised by a Customer, we had supervisors meet Flight 464 upon arrival into Dallas from Birmingham to assess a Flight Attendant onboard,” Southwest said in a statement to the Daily Mirror. “Although the Captain onboard the flight and supervisors on the ground did not witness or detect any unusual behavior, the Employee acknowledged a potential reaction to new medication prescribed by his physician. We made the proactive decision to remove the Employee from duty for the remainder of the day.”
[Video: LiveLeak]
Can you edit the title. Its obvious its in flight not during the safety briefing.
What kind of a Jack would video something like this AND posts it online? Give the poor guy a break...
Not worth a story and shouldn't have been made public. Not necessary. It was addressed by his employer.
I strongly agree, AAJetMan, the public shaming is shameful. Pass the video on to Southwest and let them deal with it. Of course they will take it very seriously and investigate. Making this public is just mean-spirited. For all we know this guy was at the tail end of an arduous work day, and he otherwise has an exemplary employment record.
Not to take away from the situation, which WN seems to be addressing in the proper way (address it directly with those involved; protect the identity and dignity of the employee), but this doesn't sound like a safety briefing. It sounds like the plane is already airborne and he's making some announcements about lavs and staying in your seat. Even sounds like the person recording the video orders a drink at the end...