A pilot was removed from a United Airlines flight from Austin to San Francisco on Saturday after using the plane’s PA system to vent about her recent divorce, Donald Trump, and Hillary Clinton.
The A319 captain boarded United 455 late and out of uniform — she was wearing a green cap, green sweater, blue jeans, and flip-flops. Over the PA system, she apologized for being late and then began rambling. First she asked if passengers cared that she was out of uniform. Next she mentioned she was going through a messy divorce. Then she looked at a interracial couple sitting in first class and said, “Look, I don’t care if you voted for Trump or Clinton, they’re both assholes.”
By this point many passengers began to get nervous. Sensing it, the disgruntled pilot stated, “So I’ll stop, and we’ll fly the plane. Don’t worry. I’m going to let my co-pilot fly it. He’s a man.”
That made passengers even more nervous. She then added, “OK, if you don’t feel safe get off the plane, but otherwise we can go.” One man immediately jumped up and was followed by 20 more.
Sensing something was deeply wrong, the flight was further delayed and a new crew summoned. The captain was escorted off by police. A replacement crew was brought in and the flight departed two hours late:
A passenger video of the incident was posted but promptly placed in private mode on YouTube.
One Passenger’s Account
One first class passenger, Randy Reiss, witnessed the incident. Live tweeting, he added-
So, y’all. I’m shaking right now. I just left my @united flight 455 ‘cos the captain demonstrated that she was not mentally in a safe space.
She got on in street clothes and asked if we were ok with her flying like that. We all said okay. Cute, right?
So then she says “sorry, I’m going through s divorce.” Ummm uh oh
Then she identified an interracial couple in first class, I think in an effort to say “yay unity” but it was was awkward.
Then she’s like “I don’t care if you voted for Trump or Clinton. They’re both assholes.”
At that point, I was like “YOOO!!!!”
And she looks at me and is like ” Did I offend you, sir? I apologize. You don’t have to fly if you’re not comfortable.”
So I jumped up and was like “peace, out.”
Oh wait, at some juncture she said she was gong to be on Oprah
Anyway… I stormed off. It took a few, but half the flight followed my [lead]
They were going to rebook us. But now they are delaying us 1 1/2 hours till we get a new captain.
I hope she gets the help she needs. That was scary as fuck. Back to the @united lounge for relaxing cheese cubes.
So, she’s off the flight.
WE HUGGED GOOD-BYE Y’ALL
She was crying. She apologized. I wished her well & said I hope she gets the help she needs.
I kid u not, her parting words: “We should be on show together. We should write a book.” OMG.
New captain on board. Apologized. Professional. We’re off. Radio silence. RIP my Twitter mentions. Xxxo to the world!
CONCLUSION
Weiss added, “Being a pilot is a tough & stressful job. This particular pilot did not seem emotionally equipped to do that job today. I hope that she gets the help she probably needs.” He’s right.
A very sad story — the captain sounds like she is deeply troubled. I hope that she gets the help she needs and I wish her the best. I can tell you I would have also stepped off that flight. How about you?
(H/T FlyerTalk)
Terminate her. Actions have consequences. No excuses. If we let this slide, why not let drunk drivers get behind the wheel.
Her behavior reflects much more than marital woes, and should never be able to fly, much less pilot a plane, as her behavior is not only scary, but down right dangerous! Extreme vetting should be implemented within all airlines, to assure the public’s safety (and soon) before something very
bad happens!!!! Perhaps she would best suited for a job at UC Berkeley.
Very sad. I also feel bad for her.
On a related note, a captain yesterday mentioned that the FO would be doing all the flying (this is before we even left SAN). It struck me as an odd thing to say. We know that they have the same qualifications and switch off regularly but the general public doesn’t. Granted, I used to think captain was just a fancy name for pilot, so maybe the distinction didn’t matter.
” Extreme vetting should be implemented within all airlines, to assure the public’s safety (and soon) before something very
bad happens!!!! ”
We have no idea what’s in her past or whether any sort of “extreme vetting” (whatever that means) would have predicted it. Pilots are human beings with the whole range of human emotional responses that our species possesses. Not everyone who’s in a bad or unstable emotional state acts out as outrageously as that pilot did. As a result we’ve all probably flown plenty of timers with pilots where were just as dangerously unstable as she was but kept it to themselves.
Over the years there have been several incidents where a mentally unstable pilot deliberately crashed his airplane – in some cases a retrospective revealed things we might have caught, in other cases, not. There’s not much that passengers can do when we place our lives in the hands of a human being so best not to worry about it.
OMG! Saw the video of her ‘speech’. First thought was of the ill-fated GermanWings flight! It was a good thing she made her state of mind known BEFORE the flight took off! OMG! Hope her license is yanked for good. Frightening to even think what could have taken place in that cockpit after they got airborne! OMG!
P.S. Yes, Matthew, I certainly would have quickly done the odds in a nono second and opted to leave the gambling table. Would have alighted that aircraft even without my carry on. What a nightmare, but best to have gotten a heads up!
Anyone who got off that plane because the female captain had the meltdown is a coward. YOLO!
OK…I was kidding. Glad she was replaced and I also hope she is OK. I am terrified of flying as it is. I would have been the first one off the plane.
There is zero chance that the flight attendants and first officer would have allowed that plane to move after that PA announcement. It was a fast moving situation, but the first officer was likely talking to operations while she was on the PA.
The Captain will never fly a passenger aircraft again. Unfortunate, but there is no room for that in the airline business.