Boing Boing Staging

Gentleman in red MAGA cap disrupts flight

Mark Frauenfelder

It’s hard to tell what’s going on here with all the shouting, but a passenger was posting live updates about an irate gent’s antics on this United flight from Shanghai:

Already delayed an hour coming out of Shanghai to EWR when an older man in my row with a “Make America Great Again” hat decides to make a ruckus and delay everybody else. He insists that, because he couldn’t get an upgrade, he’s entitled to all three seats next to him even though they’re assigned to somebody else.

Captain, crew, and airport staff come over. Man threatens that they’ll have to drag him off the plane.

He finally relents, but not before berating some female passengers and crew, calling one passenger “Hillary” (lol) and “lesbian”.

Props to the United 87 crew for handling it professionally.

update: Still haven’t left yet. Everybody is standing, calling him an asshole, and urging him to leave.

update 2: Police have arrived to applause

update 3: Crowd is really giving it to him.

In English and in Chinese. Some people are really funny

Been asked to deplane

Update 4: Haven’t reboaded, but he is finally escorted off the plane. Crowd is pissed and chanting “Lock him up”

Update 5: Finally reboarding and will get there 7 hours late, but we’ll get there.

Probably thinking that I’m hungry, the older Chinese lady (who can’t speak any English) sitting next to me offered me a cookie.

Update 6: Landed at SFO. waiting for a crew change and to get turned around to EWR.

Unclear if the guy was eventually arrested, but gossip amongst the passengers is that Chinese police did not want to create an international incident on the plane, so rather than arrest him on the plane, they waited [for] the man to deplane as they had jurisdiction inside of the airport

According to the LA Times, the flight was bound for Newark, N.J., but the captain made an unscheduled stop in San Francisco to eject the man.

In a Facebook post, passenger Clark Gredoña described the events as they unfolded. He said the man claimed that because “he couldn’t get an upgrade, he’s entitled to all three seats next to him even though they’re assigned to somebody else.”

Cellphone videos taken abroad the aircraft showed the man shouting, “I am entitled to that seat,” then screaming at fellow passengers.

In one exchange the man says, “This stupid man over here that does not know how to speak English and it doesn’t make sense, moron.”

There are still a few vacant positions in the new administration, and with his level of statesmanlike conduct he’s sure fill one of them soon.

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