Flyer Makes Ill-Advised Stand on Airplane Using Microphone
Joe Cortez October 19, 2021
A Delta Air Lines passenger learned that the hard way when they attempted to “educate” the passengers about the COVID-19 pandemic during their flight. The moment on the Sunday, October 17, 2021 flight was caught on video thanks to a flyer posting the event on TikTok.
“I Brought My Microphone and I’m Going to Use It.”
In the 99-second clip posted by singer Jawny, the episode begins when a passenger took to the aisle wearing a microphone connected to their own speaker. After telling the cabin crews: “I brought my microphone and I’m going to use it,” she began to spread her own theories on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
@jawnysomeone come get her
“The pandemic stated because humans lost a little bit of faith,” the flyer stated at the beginning of her tirade. Flight attendants were quick to intervene, politely requesting her to stop. When they produced plastic handcuffs, the flyer quipped: “I think you’re only doing this because, like I said, I’m not terrible to look at.”
The cabin crew surrounded her and informed her they would use the cuffs if needed to restrain her and stop acting up. This did not deter her from continuing with her speech.
“The reason that the pandemic started is basically because the internet,” the flyer continued. “The reason that the pandemic started is because nobody here has anymore faith, because you’re stuck to your stupid devices, and nobody knows what reality is anymore.”
After around a minute, the passenger was stopped by the flight crew, with the video showing her and another passenger being escorted to another part of the aircraft. After collecting her dog in a carrier, her final quip to the passengers was: “My dog has more sense than you.”
In a statement to Business Insider, a Delta spokesperson confirmed the incident happened on a flight and commended their crew for handling the situation.
“The safety of our customers and employees are always our top priority,” the statement reads. “We are aware of the video and appreciate the swift thinking of our flight crew who actioned their extensive training to safely deescalate the situation. The flight continued to JFK [John F. Kennedy International Airport] and landed on-time without incident.”
It is unclear if the woman was arrested for her disturbance, or if she was placed on Delta’s no-fly list after the incident. A police report was not immediately available.
Incident Latest Example of Growing Trend of In-Flight Disturbances
The woman’s announcement is just the latest in a trend of passengers creating disturbances on flights. According to the latest data from the Federal Aviation Administration, there have been 4,837 unruly passenger incidents aboard commercial aircraft, at a rate of 5.8 incidents per 10,000 flights.
There were 4,837 unruly passenger incidents since January 2021, and that’s 4,837 too many. Good behavior helps everyone get to their destination safely. #FlySmart https://t.co/8vvvuMFDIR
— FAA Steve Dickson (@FAA_Steve) October 19, 2021
I do find it telling that a vocal COVID denyer was on an airline named after a variant of concern of COVID.
Telling? No. Ironic? Absolutely.
the purpose of boarding an airplane is to reach your destination. anything that interferes with that should be punished harshly
Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but for this woman to spew forth this nonsense and be disruptive is simply crazy. It's a confined space and she is forcing people to listen to this rubbish. I get the whole free speech thing, but this really crosses the line since the other pax are basically forced into hearing htis nonsense. What's gotten into these people? What are they thinking?
The main problem that I see is that there is no real penalty for things like this happening. Delta should impose a lifetime ban on this individual and the FAA should impose a significant fine. That's the only way to deter this type of behavior. I'm just glad I was not on that flight.
Every such incident when convicted in court should come with a lifetime ban with a mandatory minimum of 5 years so there's no express revolving door. Law enforcement SOP for every such incident is 24-hours detention or signoff from a licensed psychiatrist to verify the person is sound of mind and safe to be out and about. All costs borne by the person, of course.
Way too many people get away with disrupting lives of hundreds if not thousand, even causing physical/financial harm. There's no reasoning with them so next best thing is to reduce their ability to repeat the harm.
Cause a disturbance and then don't stop once requested to? That should put someone on the TSA's "Do Not Fly" list, disallowing someone from flying to, from, or within the US on any Part 121 carrier for life.
I'm so glad I fly cargo!