coriander
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SFO-Bound United Flight From Sydney Grounded Over Middle-Seat Rage, Racism Of One Passenger: SFist
An angry man allegedly launched into a racist and homophobic rant after being seated between two other passengers of Indian or Pakistani descent on a San Francisco-bound flight out of Sydney on New Year's Day, leading to a confrontation with a flight attendant and the plane being diverted to Aukland and grounded there overnight. The man's anger, while not especially loud, was captured on cellphone video, though the racist commentary was not. He also apparently referred to the flight crew as "fa_gots and fatasses" and called some passengers "fa_gots" who were taking video of his removal from the plane, according to the New Zealand Herald.
The trouble began about 40 minutes into United Airlines flight 870, according to an account given to the paper, when the man became incensed that the two passengers on either side of him began talking over him. According to one passenger seated a few rows away, "The rant progressed from cursing Indians to Asians to Muslims to non-whites in general and calling flight crew fa_gots and fatasses. He was subdued after the pilot announced the diversion to Auckland."
In the video above you can hear the man, who might have a New York accent, saying, "If you guys treat people right on these things, you see two last names the same don't put someone else in the middle of them." He insists he's not yelling, and threatens, "You want to hear me ****ing yell?" Responding to the flight attendant after she threatens to have the pilot turn the plane around, he says, "Do you know how cool it would be to have the airplane turned around because of me? You are going to do that? You do that. I'm being so impolite aren't I? Fatass."
Shortly thereafter, the plane landed in Aukland, and a video by Neil Kay shows the man being quietly escorted off the plane by police.
Kay also posted the photos below showing the "wonderful new friends" he says he made after all the passengers and crew were forced to spend the night in Aukland before taking off again for SFO. Due to the length of the flight and the delay, the NZ Herald reports that the crew had to deplane to rest before returning to work.
An angry man allegedly launched into a racist and homophobic rant after being seated between two other passengers of Indian or Pakistani descent on a San Francisco-bound flight out of Sydney on New Year's Day, leading to a confrontation with a flight attendant and the plane being diverted to Aukland and grounded there overnight. The man's anger, while not especially loud, was captured on cellphone video, though the racist commentary was not. He also apparently referred to the flight crew as "fa_gots and fatasses" and called some passengers "fa_gots" who were taking video of his removal from the plane, according to the New Zealand Herald.
The trouble began about 40 minutes into United Airlines flight 870, according to an account given to the paper, when the man became incensed that the two passengers on either side of him began talking over him. According to one passenger seated a few rows away, "The rant progressed from cursing Indians to Asians to Muslims to non-whites in general and calling flight crew fa_gots and fatasses. He was subdued after the pilot announced the diversion to Auckland."
In the video above you can hear the man, who might have a New York accent, saying, "If you guys treat people right on these things, you see two last names the same don't put someone else in the middle of them." He insists he's not yelling, and threatens, "You want to hear me ****ing yell?" Responding to the flight attendant after she threatens to have the pilot turn the plane around, he says, "Do you know how cool it would be to have the airplane turned around because of me? You are going to do that? You do that. I'm being so impolite aren't I? Fatass."
Shortly thereafter, the plane landed in Aukland, and a video by Neil Kay shows the man being quietly escorted off the plane by police.
Kay also posted the photos below showing the "wonderful new friends" he says he made after all the passengers and crew were forced to spend the night in Aukland before taking off again for SFO. Due to the length of the flight and the delay, the NZ Herald reports that the crew had to deplane to rest before returning to work.
And of course there's nothing to stop you joining in even if you don't understand the language.
