A belligerent, intoxicated passenger nearly caused a full deplaning on a severely delayed United Airlines flight. But in the end, a fed-up traveler finally coaxed the man, who refused to commit to behaving onboard, to leave the aircraft voluntarily.
“Vladimir” Finally Leaves Delayed United Flight After Fellow Passenger Steps In
United Airlines flight 2731 from Newark (EWR) to Denver (DEN) was delayed 4 hours and 43 minutes—longer than the scheduled flight time. During the delay, a clearly intoxicated man, whom we’ll call “Vladimir,” refused to give the simple assurance that he would behave during the flight.
He wasn’t asked to leave initially. He was simply asked, multiple times, if he could agree to be calm and not cause problems once airborne. That’s it. He couldn’t do it. Slurring his words and visibly impaired, he refused to answer the supervisor’s reasonable and repeated request for reassurance. The supervisor, to her credit, remained calm and patient throughout the interaction.
Eventually, with Vladimir still refusing to cooperate, the supervisor returned and warned that the entire plane would have to deplane if he didn’t comply. That’s when the crowd began to turn. Finally, another passenger seated in 29A stepped in, had an exchange of words with Vladimir, and the man (finally) got up and walked off the aircraft on his own.
It was a close call—United nearly had to unload an entire planeload of exhausted travelers because one man wouldn’t verbally agree to act like an adult…
The incident was caught on video:
UA 2731 Newark > Denver passenger kicked off for unruly behavior
byu/alphaskins inunitedairlines
Kudos to Mr. 29A for talking him off the plane. One way or another, he would have been kicked off…he just saved everyone else at least an hour on a flight that was already severely delayed.
CONCLUSION
This situation could have easily spiraled into another viral David Dao debacle for United Airlines, but UA staff held their composure and another passenger managed to resolve it without having to drag the man off. Yes, Vladimir should never have made it onboard in the first place. His condition appeared obvious. Gate agents are empowered to intervene before boarding starts and it’s reasonable to question why he was even given a chance in the first place.
That said, I appreciate how ground staff tried to de-escalate this matter and gave Vlad more than enough rope to hang himself. I realize that extended flight delays can prompt extended stays at airport bars, but self-control must always be exercised…
Hat Tip: View From The Wing
Congratulations to 29A! He has earned the title of Drunk Negotiator, an increasingly valuable skill. Thankfully Vlad had not passed out. Yet.
If he appeared intoxicated or impaired, the FAA rule is they have to be removed. I’m not clear why the CSR thought negotiating his behavior was an option. m
Exactly. This tosser *should* be dragged out of the plane if necessary.
We won the cold war. I don’t know why we decided to let these Russians in. They should stay in Russia and build their own country. You shouldn’t get to come to the US after you lost and cost us trillions of dollars, but leave it to the idiots that run this country.
Also, no sympathy for the airlines or airports that have to deal with drunks. They are the ones who want to sell the stuff.
Won the cold war? ROTFL
There’s no evidence that Vladimir was indeed a Russian citizen but you are of course making racist assumptions based on US ignorance of the rest of the world. Well done for showing yourself and your country up for what it is.
UA should ‘do it’ 1) the easy way or 2) the ‘Dr Dao’ way…
.. but now they have to possibly inconvenience the whole planeload of ALREADY inconvenienced pax.. Pathetic…
After four hours he finally listens and gets off ????? Where was the Captain, the flight attendants, any gate agent involved in this ?? – like just call the police and haul his rear end off ??????? instead of leaving it to fellow passengers to reason with this moronic social misfit messing up the lives of everyone else. No wonder this keeps happening, those in authority do nothing, passively nothing while innocent PAYING passengers are supposed to “fix” the problem ? What would anyone have done if he started beating or hitting other passengers around him ? The world has gone mad and those in authority do nothing.
It seems that the gate agent should have stopped the drunk from boarding in the first place! FAR § 91.17 prohibits pilots from allowing intoxicated individuals on board. Thus, the captain should have intervened and had the passenger removed, with force if necessary. Congratulations to the passenger that convinced the drunk to deplane quietly…so to speak. Now, United should immediately ban this drunk from flying.
Why is everyone “congratulating” the passenger/negotiator ? Four hours ??? and no one in authority did anything? What are you going to do the next time this happens, just hope some fellow passenger will step up and take hold of the problem (at risk of being attacked) ?
What is wrong with this picture ?