What a flight…kudos to JetBlue for its handling of what was a very volatile situation after a man refused to wear a mask, snorted cocaine onboard, and harassed other passengers.
JetBlue Flight Diverts After Man Harasses Other Passengers After Ingesting Cocaine Onboard
We report on a lot of bad behavior in the skies on Live and Let’s Fly, but I can’t think of situation worse than what occurred on JetBlue 915 from New York (JFK) to San Francisco (SFO) on Sunday. The flight diverted to Minneapolis (MSP) after a passenger onboard:
- Annoyed another passengers (possibly in the gate area as well)
- Engaged in unwanted touching, particularly directed toward a female passenger
- Made multiple trips to the bathroom
- Refused to wear his mask repeatedly
- Made knife stabbing motions towards other passengers
- Was observed “snorting a white substance”
- Left traces of a “white substance” at his seat, which flight attendants noticed during one of his frequent trips to the lavatory
This comes from Matt Kawashima, a passenger onboard to tweeted the information to One Mile At A Time and View From The Wing.
You can listen to the captain’s full explanation here:
Uhhh my @JetBlue flight JFK-SFO just got diverted to MSP because an anti-masker was snorting coke in the bathroom and sexually harassing another passenger… props for to the crew for dealing with this maniac. @OneMileataTime @garyleff pic.twitter.com/CABOec8P3j
— Matt Kawashima (@mattkawashima) May 16, 2021
“There was a man annoying another passenger and unwanted touching, possibly inadvertent, maybe intentional, unknown. Multiple trips to the bathroom. The flight attendants were able to move that passenger so she felt more comfortable.
“After several more ‘put on your mask, put on your mask, put on your mask’ bathroom trips, he started antagonizing other passengers, and made knife stabbing motions at another passenger.
“He was also observed [displaying] erratic behavior and snorting a white substance. Activity towards the flight attendants and other passengers, more than two… it became more than two felt threatened by his abusive language and the actions I’ve already told you.
“The viewing of the snorting of the white substance, when he went to the bathroom, they picked up his tray table, the garbage around his area was discovered a bag with a white substance in it.”
Passengers gasped as the captain mentioned he was snorting a white substance. At the conclusion of the captain’s explanation, passengers broke out in applause.
CONLCUSION
I’ve got news for you buddy: a big fine is coming your way. It’s unwise to snort cocaine at all, but especially onboard an aircraft. Refusing to wear a mask then harassing other passengers will only add to your fine. I’m expecting something in the $50K+ ballpark…
When you say “anti-masker” you imply he wasn’t wearing a mask in order to express his disagreement with the federal mask mandate. But based on the facts you’ve listed, it sounds like he was behaving like an ass because he was high on cocaine. He sounds more like a drug addict than a guy making a political statement.
Could well be. However, Gary (VFTW) talked to a witness onboard and suggested the guy was resisting the mask from the start.
I call BS .. how do you get blow on a plane these days ?!? Air_marshalls anyone? Or is that even a ‘thing’ these days
Yeah I would be hesitant to depict this individual as having some sort of principled objection to any particular policy – if he was violating the mask rule “from the start,” perhaps he was already coked up when he got to the airport and/or boarded the plane?
Does everything have to be politicized??? I’ll wear a mask on a plane or in a crowded store out of consideration for others. But I don’t like wearing them. Hot. Uncomfortable. Fogs my glasses. Most of the time I take it off. And I don’t even vote. So I’m not sure why no mask would be considered a “political statement”
I think this guy was making a “strung out on coke” statement but for some reason all the travel bloggers see the mask, not the open in-flight drug use, as the main story
Again, lifetime flying ban on any airline please!