najay

Apologies in advance if this has already been posted ... I did a search and didn't pull anything up ...

A BLIND INTERNATIONAL interpreter who says he was dragged off a Belgium-bound flight, arrested and held in custody in Philadelphia for hours without food or water faces an arraignment Thursday.

Blind_interpreter_detained_at_Philly_airport_says_ he_has_nightmares_from_arrest.html

Crazyace718

That is terrible news. It seems that Mr Cantisani was quite civil considering the circumstances and somehow got swept up into BS. I wonder what the second passenger said to the flight crew.

N965VJ

Another PAX recorded video and posted it on YouTube.

Part 1

Part 2

tfar

Scandalous! What a terrible place this has become. The fascist behavior introduced under the 'Bush regime" will be hard to get rid of. I fear it is too deeply ingrained.

Hopefully, some judge sees clear, gets the officers a dishonorable discharge and loss of pension funds, and the man a fat check in damages.

But the problem is not there. It is in a system and mentality that makes these things possible.

Till

Trollkiller

My work blocks YouTube, can anyone give a good synopsis of what the video shows?

PHLJJS

The police asked him to leave the plane. Told him that US no longer wanted him onboard. He questioned the US gate agent/ manager's authority to have him removed. He questioned the police officers authority, said he didn't want to leave the plane. At one point, the passenger with the camera asks his seatmate if they "tazed" him and he replied "yeah, I heard it." I didn't see or hear any evidence of that and only PPD Supervisors are authorized to use tazers and in the 7 years that I've worked at PHL, I've never seen any PPD officer with one. The gentleman screams loudly and frequently as they attempt to remove him from his seat and cuff him. The passenger was being uncooperative and belligerent. I don't see any evidence that US or the PPD acted wrongly. I understand that he was upset by the delay, but he caused his own problems that night.

N830MH

Yes. It was absolutely is no reason why he is not inappropriate behaviors onboard the flight for PHL-BRU. I am really not appreciate it for his behaviors at all. He would spent in the jails for awhile until where they will eventually sent him back home to BRU. So I knows that he is legal blind but, he can't see it at all. I think he would being banned for flying on US Airways. So he had a reason why the flight is delayed due to mechancial problems. It took more hours for trying flying out of PHL. Now he is being charge of disorderly conduct.

N830MH

Exactly! He is absolutely no reason why he causing lot of problems. So he is now already being charge of disorderly conduct. He is already in the jails for 24 hours advance and then, he will get his arrangement at the court. So he would being banned for flying on US Airways for rest of his miserable life. So it wasn't calm him down and I am listening the YouTube video where he was still arguable with flight attendant or at the gate agents.

andymo99

He was acting like a total d-bag. The video tells a much different story than the newspaper article.

coachrowsey

I will just say +1 here based on what I saw. The man was a problem.

moeve

Ok this guy wasn't helping himself but this is what happens when you don't explain delays etc to passengers. Many passengers are very anxious about flying and leaving them parked somewhere can cause this sort of thing.

The fact that the man was blind does play a role since he cannot see many things like minic, gestures etc we seeing people use without thinking as parts of our communication to make certain points.

I am not sure but did the GA / FA at anytime warn him that if he did not calm down he would have to call the cops?

By the way if you were sitting next to this guy would any of you have tried to "help" him by pointing out that he needs to calm down right away while the FA / GA was still there...... I mean most of the FF on this board would have know this was coming. Not even his wife seemed to "see" it coming or I am sure she would have tried to calm him down.

skylady

Since the plane obviously returned to the gate after taxiing around, he was not quite held captive. While taxiing, the FAs cannot open galley compartments to give him the water he desired, nor can he move around the cabin. After viewing the videos, it appears he truly was disruptive and combative. I don't feel that his disability plays any role here at all.

KChar

He was screaming and very disruptive. His wife couldn't calm him down. The article made it seem as if he calmly asked a question and was arrested because of that.

Mr. Gel-pack

^

On long delays, the airlines often tell passengers little white lies to try to keep them calm. How many times has it really been "just a few more minutes"?

If some other passenger did see it coming, would they have been able to explain it without becoming part of the problem and getting booted themselves?

I think the situation started as he said in the article, and the videographer began taping after things began escalating into something you-tube worthy.

The first video started with him explaining that the GA/FA was talking to his wife and ignoring him, which is something that often do to the differently-abled. (See this example.) Telling him "your behavior is unacceptable" isn't going to calm him down.

AngryMiller

Little white lies? A flight connecting through O'hare to Nashville gets dumped at O'hare due to weather. The airlines continues selling tickets on upcoming flights rather than taking care of the passengers stranded at O'hare and tells those same passengers that it might be a couple days before a seat becomes available. I would rather have an airlines be straight with me and to tell it like it is. Five hour delay? Okay, if accurate and if connections are available as well.