American Pilot Arrested for Choking Ground Agent
Carly Zinderman March 16, 2018
PIC FROM MERCURY PRESS (PICTURED: THE CAN OF STELLA LAGER NEXT TO THE PILOT OF THE JET2 FLIGHT) A holidaymaker was left stunned after he allegedly spotted a can of Stella placed on a napkin in the COCKPIT of a Jet2 flight home from Alicante - snapping a picture of it. Steve Lewis, from Brackley, Northamptonshire, says he spotted the lager can sat at the side of the pilot for 20 minutes after the plane had landed at Birmingham airport on Monday afternoon while they waited to disembark. Upon sending the image to Jet2, Steve claims he was at first told it was not one of Jet2's flights - despite the iconic branding being clearly visible in the top left corner. SEE MERCURY COPY
Just before taking off from Brazil to Miami, an American Airlines pilot was arrested after an altercation resulting from a dispute became physical, according to a report by the Daily Mail. Neither the pilot nor the agent has been named.
The 59-year old pilot is said to have worked at American Airlines for 32 years and got into a dispute with an operations agent on the ground regarding the alignment of the finger—that tunnel that connects passengers in the airport with the plane. He grabbed the female agent by the neck during the altercation.
The pilot was arrested just moments before taking off and has his American passport revoked by the police who charged him with Brazil’s penal code, article 129 with “offending the bodily integrity or health of another.”
As a result, the pilot now faces between three months and one year if he is found guilty. Needless to say, passengers were not pleased by the delay the incident caused and American Airlines staff scrambled to place passengers on other flights and provide meal vouchers and hotel stays to make up for the incident.
The issue began when a copilot on the flight went to adjust the tunnel entrance and the pilot said it was incorrectly aligned. The gate agent said that it was correct and apparently inadvertently stepped on the pilot’s foot during the altercation, setting off a chain of events, as reported by eyewitnesses. The pilot then grabbed the agent by the neck before a maintenance worker intervened to put an end to the violence.
American Airlines has since issued a formal apology to customers saying that they are cooperating with the investigation and doing their best to accommodate passengers.
The pilot is due to appear at a special court.
@mikesyr18 Are you kidding?
A foreign nation cannot "revoke" an US citizen's passport. It can certainly "seize" or "confiscate" a passport when, as in this case, the bearer is suspected of a crime - but only the US Department of State has the authority to "revoke" a US citizen's passport. I would imagine this is similar for other nations as well.
Dont give United any more ideas!
Of course the woman walks away without any disciplinary action even though she started the problem by stepping on his foot.
I’ve never heard of the jetway being called “finger” before. I must say, I first thought “alignment of the finger” referred to one of them making a rude gesture. :)