American Airlines flight 1680 from Miami to New York LaGuardia diverted to Jacksonville, Florida on Sunday after a passenger released pepper spray into the cabin.
According to a passenger on board the flight, passengers towards the rear of the aircraft began coughing and had their eyesight affected. Flight attendants were impacted as well. A crewmember made an announcement asking for any information about what might be in the air of the cabin.
Apparently a passenger finally acknowledged responsibility, claiming that they accidentally “mistook their pepper spray for sanitizer or lotion.” On the ground, law enforcement met the aircraft and removed the individual from the flight. Paramedics also met the aircraft to assist anyone with medical issues, and one flight attendant reportedly sought further treatment.
This incident was flagged by aviation watchdog JonNYC.
please don't pepper-spray your fellow passengers:https://t.co/jfJk6bgFWO
— 🇺🇦 JonNYC 🇺🇦 (@xJonNYC) August 21, 2023
One Mile at a Time shares internal comments on the flight’s diversion.
As to what actually happened, there’s some speculation that the incident was “racially motivated.
Across from the Italian family [that discharged the pepper spray] was a black family with a baby. A few people said they heard the spray go off and the teen son giggle about it and look across the aisle to the other family. Others are describing being asleep and waking up coughing.
Pepper spray is not permitted in carry on bags, according to TSA. However past Department of Homeland Security Inspector General reports have found that most prohibited items slip through undetected by the agency’s screeners.
Ayup TSA did their job as usual… Too bad they won’t be held accountable.
Taking Scissors Away fails us again!
Good job TSA (sarcasm). I can actually understand an accidental discharge but TSA’s screwup is unacceptable.
Of course someone thought it was racially motivated because everything is and the demand for racism far outweighs the supply.
CIty pair ratings would be an immense improvement over airline ratings or airport ratings. Which city pair routes are more likely to feature Chuckles as passengers, and which city pair routes are more likely to feature librarian conventioneers? Actually, I can kind of guess that any city pairs including cities in Nevada and Vegas would feature passengers unable to contain their exuberant lifestyle. Are we allowed to rate TSA staffers like we rate airline and hotel staffers?
I love how everyone piles on TSA here in comments. You really expect them to be better than the rest of the American society? Why aren’t you jumping on the idiot American passengers? Society here in general is equivalent to a clogged sewer line.
I am soooo tired of problems involving different people to ALWAYS be classified as Racial. I agree. Can’t blame TSA for everything. This family “should have known” pepper spray was illegal
They should take full responsibility for this – in $Dollars$
Pop the oxygen masks for a few minutes and carry on… What did they do on the ground they couldn’t do in the air?
“What did they do on the ground they couldn’t do in the air?”
Umm… Swap out the plane
This just shows that most of the securitt at airport is just theater.
We could be as secure, or even more secure if we would drop all the theater with body scanners, etc. and istead focused on what matters.
I say prosecution is called for. Bringing weapons on to an aircraft is illegal.
My husband was on that flight and sat directly behind the woman that sprayed the pepper spray. My husband was next to the young mother whose baby had soiled his diaper. The woman who sprayed the pepper spray was ridiculously doing so to combat the odor of the soiled diaper. While extremely idiotic and dangerous, it was NOT racially motivated.
@Michele Paliseno. I agree. It was idiotic. I can see maybe air freshener, Lysol. Even those some people might be allergic.
Please allow me to point a danger out. Currently being sold are tiny lipstick sized pepper sprays, marketed for women. ( I purchased one that supported B. cancer research) Unlike regular pepper spray there is no label and they don’t have the safety of larger sprays. While in a beautiful case, it occurred to me that as indistinguishable from a cosmetic, they present a real danger. They are a weapon and attractive to children. The adults who purchase such should be accountable if TSA fails to detect or if the spray falls into the wrong hands. I destroyed mine.
BNA Concourse C was evacuated a few months ago for the same reason. Somebody made it through security with bear spray and realized what they had done. They threw it in a garbage can where it was found by a janitor and accidentally set off.
@Gary – Why do you think a no-fly penalty is wrong again? This seems like a pretty good example of why we do need one. Yes, the TSA screwed up. Cops don’t always catch you when you’re speeding either but what’s critical is that the penalty is sufficient to act as a disincentive. Most people don’t speed heavily because they like the speed limit, they don’t speed because they don’t want an expensive ticket or to lose their license. It’s simply a matter of translating that into commercial flying terms.
@Maria perhaps time to get tough and put people on the no-fly list? Or automatic SSSS on their ticket(s) for the next few years.
@BigTee: The “AS flying Cleveland Pittsburgh” article is over there –>
As FG would say “Stupid is as stupid does”
Don’t use pepper spray as an air freshener and change your baby’s diaper in the lavatory. That’s why they have changing tables.