Hysteria in the Air

For the second time, military jets were scrambled when a mainland-bound flight from Hawaii reported disruptive passengers. Disruptive passengers have been part of situations that air crews have had to deal with ever since airlines have started carrying passengers instead of mail in the early part of the 20th century. Since the underpants bomber, I think we've gone a little overboard (pun intended). This level of hysteria has been unmatched, even since 9/11/01.

I asked my airline husband pilot to comment on this. He relayed an incident he had on his aircraft where a flight attendant wanted him to remove a passenger. Being the kind of cool and level-headed person that he is (one of the traits I admire about him!), he asked some questions. The situation was that the man had gotten upset because they made him check his bag plane side. This is standard operation for the smaller jets since there is very limited space in the under seat storage and overhead bins. He was "Muslim looking" and had pulled out a book that had, "some kind of funny writing." When questioned further, he had made no remarks to the flight attendants or any other kind of threatening gestures. Even his first officer wanted the passenger removed. My husband patiently explained to the worried flight attendant that without him being disruptive and knowing exactly what he was reading that the flight would go on as scheduled and should anything occur they would deal with the situation. Nothing happened. The man was just upset because he didn't trust the airlines to return his belongings to him. I can't say that I blame him-I always worry when I have to check in my luggage. The airlines don't exactly have a good track record with you and your luggage arriving at the same destination at the same time-or ever!

I'm not saying that air crews should not be cautious. I'm saying that air crews should use some common sense. Rather than reacting by emotion, some rational analysis is called for to decide on the best course of action. That's probably why my husband is a captain for an airline. That's also why when two engines went out in an Airbus over the Hudson River, the captain was able to land it on the water with no lives lost.