saulblum

Only if he brings his story to the media and embarrasses the paranoid flight attendants who see evil in a book about early 20th century aviation.

Wally Bird

I would have stood in the aisle and made my own announcement:

"Sorry folks, I'm reading this book (holds it up) about old airplanes and the crew thought it was suspicious. The police didn't think so, so we can get on with the flight now. Thank you."

Of course then I would likely have been hauled off for 'interfering' with the trolley dollies . What a farce.

The victim appears to be/have been way too meek; maybe he doesn't fly much as he seemed not to know how to stow carryons.Weeping would have been waaaay down on the list of my reactions .

lostinthewash

or any episode of Mayday

gobluetwo

Chuck Norris doesn't fly on airplanes. Airplanes fly under Chuck Norris.

jiejie

I kid you not, this is exactly what I would have done, also further advised the other passengers to take down notes about and take pictures of the crew, and write letters of complaints to the airline. At that point, I wouldn't have cared about being tossed off the flight or not.

t325

Too bad they never made Debbie Does Dallas 2: Debbie Does Delta 191. That would ruffle a few feathers

N965VJ

Manuals for Part 121 aircraft are available everywhere. This company has been in business for almost 60 years, for example. With little searching on the interwebs you could also find free downloads.



Only one that is on fire, but someone could always take a match to the SkyMall catalog.

Alpha Golf

Key issue for me:

If this guy's a musician, are we going to get another great United song?

gojirasan

Well if you are going to read a book/magazine about aviation you should at least wait until the plane has actually taken off. Actually this is probably good advice no matter what you are reading. Don't read anything at all until the aircraft is actually in the air.

If you are going to read on a plane try to avoid the flight attendant seeing the cover. If the person next to you calls for the flight attendant or gets up from their seat put the book back in your carry-on until 5 minutes after they have returned from their seat. When I was a child we used to make textbook covers from paper shopping bags. That may once again become a useful skill for flying.

You know those license plate covers that tried to thwart photo speed radar by only making the plate number readable from a narrow viewing angle? We need something like that for books to make shoulder surfing by FAs or other pax impossible. If you combine something like that with a homemade book cover you should be able to practice Safe Reading in the midst of even the most paranoid pax and airline employees.

CMK10

I guess I should consider myself lucky no one said anything to me when I was reading Hard Landing on a plane What an awful ordeal for this guy, and I'm usually one to defend airline/TSA actions, not in this case

Caradoc

Dunno about real paper books, but privacy screens for iPads and other electronic books are available.

mikeef

"Hey, Steve, how'd you catch that terrorist?"

"Well, he was reading a really suspicious book. We knew right then and there."

Mike

SFOSpiff

That's not bad advice, but it assumes that a freaked out crew won't turn back to the airport, or divert to the closest one. At the very least, they could have police waiting when you land.

I wouldn't assume such things aren't possible.

jkhuggins

There's another explanation ... but it forces me to bring up an aspect of this story that hasn't been mentioned to date (much to my relief).

The victim is African-American.

For better or for worse, people of color in this country have been unjustly treated by those in authority for a long time. Many have decided, when confronted with such behavior, to simply submit to the injustice, and deal with the ramifications later. (When you're pulled over for Driving While Black by a Good Ole Boy, arguing with the guy with the firearm, the billy club, and the handcuffs about the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment is not likely to lead to enlightenment.)

That's what I read into his story. Throwing a fit on the aircraft would've likely resulted in his being denied the ability to fly at all that day. He made the choice to fight on a battleground of his own choosing, not the airline's --- and a battleground where he'd have a much better opportunity to prevail.

It is tragic that such choices are forced upon people. I don't know if I would make that choice. But having lived a life of relative privilege, I have no right to judge a man when I have never walked in his shoes.

OnTheAsile

I agree this is excellent advise. Whatever you don't get into a conversation where you talk about your job, hobbies or friends. Image the consequences if someone was concerned because you were an aircraft mechanic, biochemist, nuclear physicist, or you worked in a grocery store that sold Tang and your friend had access to hydrogen peroxide in their hair salon business. http://natgeotv.com/uk/liquid-bomb-plot/about

As a second thought, maybe these questions should be added to the Secure Data and BDO interrogation programs. I know I would feel much safer. Its not discriminatory profiling because we know the TSA treats everyone like criminals and potential terrorists.

"Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away"
Buffalo Springfield: Somethings Happening Here
.