Boom-Box Brawl From Baltimore: This Week’s Worst Passengers

Every Friday, FlyerTalk looks back at the week’s most charming individuals. While there are always plenty of contenders for our Worst Passenger of the Week award, only one lucky flyer can take home the glory. Here are this week’s winners.

Third Place — Worst Passenger of the Week Apprenticeship Program

According to police, a group of 25 rowdy and intoxicated men were removed from a Thomson Airways flight from London Gatwick Airport (LGW) to Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (LIR) in Costa Rica this week. To be fair, a series of mechanical delays helped fuel the allegedly drunk and abusive behavior that led to the large group of Irish nationals being ejected from the plane. Still, the idea of 25 loudmouthed drunks is a fairly impressive tally for any single flight.

Perhaps more impressive is the fact that the youngest member of the group was said to be only 14 years old. The protégé was apparently the only underage member of the large entourage that was kicked off the flight after reportedly harassing flight attendants and other passengers while the plane was still on the ground.

The Runners-up — Breakin’ 3: Electric Boogaloo in the Sky

The boom box is an iconic symbol of a bygone age. The portable stereo systems with dubious fidelity and a tendency to eat D-cell batteries faster than Ms. Pac-man ate power pellets played a huge role in eighties movies. If not for the invention of the boom box, there would have been no epic break dancing battles on the graffitied streets of Los Angeles in Breakdance: the Movie and John Cusack would have never got the girl in Say Anything.

But it is a little surprising that a passenger would think it’s okay to blast a boom box on a commercial airline flight. It is somewhat less surprising that the Spirit Airlines passenger who was blasting a boom box on a flight from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) allegedly refused to turn down her music and instead began taunting other passengers with the challenge, “What are you going to do?” It isn’t surprising at all that alcohol was said to be involved or that an out-and-out brawl broke out shortly before the plane landed at LAX.

The melee that followed was not quite as choreographed as scenes from Breakin’, but fellow passengers did manage to capture video of the climactic in-flight battle over noise pollution between five female passengers. The short video clip posted online is well on its way to earning more viewers than any Cameron Crowe movie ever had.

The Winner — The Dumbest Passenger of the Week

This Worst Passenger of the Week doesn’t get any points for originality. Incidents in which passengers have attempted to open emergency exit doors on commercial planes have become commonplace lately. In these situations, it usually bears mentioning that aircraft doors on passenger planes are designed not to open while the aircraft is in flight, but this week’s worst flyer may have found a loophole.

The unidentified Chinese passenger who allegedly opened the exit door on a China Southern Airlines flight this week earned style points for his timing. The seemingly confused traveler is said to have opened the plane’s door on a taxiway moments before the aircraft was about to take off from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU). The captain reportedly brought the jet to an emergency stop averting a potential disaster. The cabin crew restrained the would-be escape artist until authorities arrived a short time later.

The surprised passenger had a simple explanation for his daring stunt. He told crew members that he just wanted a little “fresh air.” The curious flyer told authorities that he believed that the latch on the aircraft door was instead a lever that would allow him to open a window. The traveler was seemingly unaware that opening a window on a jet aircraft preparing to take off is also a very bad idea.

Amazingly, we have heard this exact logic before. Another China Southern Airlines passenger opened the emergency exit next to his seat prior to departure just last year.  In this case, the flyer was also looking for a little air circulation during the boarding process. When flight attendants confronted the rather bold passenger, he defiantly told them, “This door is not important.”

[Screengrab via YouTube]