In May 2005 I was on an Air France flight from Paris (CDG) to Dakar, Senegal (DKR). There was an African man, probably about 30 years old, being deported and he was none too pleased about it. He was sitting in the middle of one of the last rows in our 777-200 and accompanied by two French police officers, one of whom stayed with the man while the other circulated through the cabin prior to takeoff explaining the situation to the other passengers.

I have no idea why he was being deported, whether he had committed a crime or was simply in the country illegally, but he was absolutely desperate to stay in France. He kept shouting 3 phrases (in French) and screamed himself hoarse: "It's the end of my life! They want me dead! I'm not Senegalese, I'm Mauritanian!" When he needed to rest his voice for a second, he'd spit very loudly (I guess onto the back of the seat in front of him).

Needless to say, the other passengers were very annoyed with this situation, especially since we were staring down a 6-hour flight with this guy only a few rows behind us. The officer insisted though that the tantrum would stop once we took off. We didn't believe it, but sure enough, the very second the plane went wheels-up, the man shut up for good. I don't know if this is just the normal time when deportees give up at resisting or if they gave him some sort of sedative.

Later, when I walked back to the rear galley during the flight, I glanced at the man. He was clearly awake and conscious, but absolutely despondent, resting his head on the tray table in front of him. I have no idea what happened to him after he got off the plane, but I sure was glad I wasn't him.