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Old Oct 22, 2005, 9:48 am
  #1  
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No Sense of Humor

I had one of the more interesting delays this week. Right as we were about to push back, the Captain came on the intercom and announced that as a passenger was boarding, he turned to the Captain and said (in an obvious joking manner) "Thanks for letting me buy you that drink." Because of that comment, the Captain reported that he was being required to go take a breathalyzer test before we could depart and the passenger who made the remark would be removed from the flight and not permitted to travel with us.
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Old Oct 22, 2005, 10:07 am
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If I was the guy making the "joke" I would have said "thanks for letting me buy you that drink....(long pause)...of water!". No crime there, right?

Might even have been a good gambit when they were hauling him off.
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Old Oct 22, 2005, 12:34 pm
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Originally Posted by John C
I had one of the more interesting delays this week. Right as we were about to push back, the Captain came on the intercom and announced that as a passenger was boarding, he turned to the Captain and said (in an obvious joking manner) "Thanks for letting me buy you that drink." Because of that comment, the Captain reported that he was being required to go take a breathalyzer test before we could depart and the passenger who made the remark would be removed from the flight and not permitted to travel with us.
The pilot did the correct thing; there is no humor in the above. Drinking and driving isn't something to joke about, nor is operating an aircraft under the influence.

When the passenger boarded and stated this in front of other passengers and flight crew, including the first officer, he implied the pilot recently had a drink.

Kudos to the pilot for delaying the flight, getting a breathalizer done, and removing the passenger from the flight. There were similar cases of pax joking about a pilots sobriety immediately after the America West incident in Florida. In each case the pilot had a breathalizer and the passenger did not fly. The passenger should be fully responsible for the cost of the delay in such a scenario.

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Old Oct 22, 2005, 12:41 pm
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DUPELICATE

Last edited by SDF_Traveler; Oct 22, 2005 at 12:42 pm Reason: DUPE
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Old Oct 22, 2005, 12:49 pm
  #5  
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I agree...only an idiot would make a comment like that, which is both inappropriate and insulting to the pilot. He deserved to be hauled off the flight, should be blackballed from that airline and then invoiced for the cost of the delay.
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Old Oct 22, 2005, 1:43 pm
  #6  
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I disagree. It's yet another stupid overreaction in a society rife with them.
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Old Oct 22, 2005, 2:59 pm
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I agree that this is not something to joke about,but why does the hassle seem to fall solely on the pilot? Why was the passenger not questioned at length about the evidence underlying the accusation?
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Old Oct 22, 2005, 8:57 pm
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Accusation? That seems a little strong, doesn't it? It was stupid but pretty clearly a joke.

Bruce
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Old Oct 23, 2005, 7:13 am
  #9  
 
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Next up:

TSA approved lock-on gags for PAX AND flight crew. Might interfere with eating pretzels or donning oxygen masks if needed, however.

p.s. If pax hadn't already forfeited flight due to gaffe, without mentioning 'bomb' or 'explosive' in any way, captain COULD have shouted back:

"No problem. And thank YOU for disarming that thing before ya brought it on board..."
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Old Oct 23, 2005, 7:32 am
  #10  
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Originally Posted by bdschobel
Accusation? That seems a little strong, doesn't it? It was stupid but pretty clearly a joke.
And even if anyone wanted to take it seriously, not all drinks are alcoholic and the guy could've been talking about several days ago, a month, or even years. No, it was an overreaction. In our fear, we've become sheeple.
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Old Oct 23, 2005, 7:35 am
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Originally Posted by bdschobel
Accusation? That seems a little strong, doesn't it? It was stupid but pretty clearly a joke.
And even if anyone wanted to take it seriously, not all drinks are alcoholic and the guy could've been talking about several days ago, a month, or even years. No, it was an overreaction.

In our fear, we've become sheeple, reacting automatically, and without thought, to every shadow like it's a fox. Repeat after me, everyone. Baaaaaaaaa!!!! Baaaaaaaaaa!!
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Old Oct 23, 2005, 7:41 am
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But why is that a funny remark? I don't see humor in suggesting the pilot "May" have had a drink earlier in light of past issues with pilots having real alcohol issues.
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Old Oct 23, 2005, 8:05 am
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Originally Posted by vsobotta
But why is that a funny remark? I don't see humor in suggesting the pilot "May" have had a drink earlier in light of past issues with pilots having real alcohol issues.
It's funny precisely because you don't see the humor in it. Here's a backgrounder on humor:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humor#Understanding_humour
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