A passenger had to be removed from an American Airlines flight to Charlotte over their refusal to wear a mask. So far, just like any other day in travel since 75% of airline incidents reported to the FAA this year have involved masks.
But the pilot of this flight followed the passenger’s ejection with a speech to those on board in which he declared himself God on the aircraft as he implored everyone to follow the rules.
“The job of the captain of this aircraft is to get you somewhere safely. That’s my job. So we have the mask policy. We have to comply with it. If we’ve got somebody who doesn’t want to comply we’re not gonna [unintelligible] it’s not up for discussion, it’s not a negotiation.
And on this aircraft I’m God. I decide what happens and we can do it the easy way or the hard way. And at least this fella decided to get off. We had two cops waiting outside to do it the hard way and I’m glad we didn’t have to do that.
And again I don’t want to get into political statements. We all have our feelings about that. Let’s just try to get along.
How taking a stand on a plane against masks makes any sense unless you’re a Member of Congress I don’t quite understand. As the passenger who took the video shared the pilot,
gave a 5 minute speech wen we first got on the plane clearly stating that masks must be worn at all times and it’s totally not negotiable and anyone refusing to wear one would be escorted off the plane immediately—no exceptions.
Yet a passenger still refused, and no surprise, wound up off the aircraft. It certainly makes you wonder what they were thinking, whether they thought the federal government, the TSA, the pilot and law enforcement were all joking?
You know the old line, though, “what’s the difference between God and a pilot? God doesn’t think he’s a pilot.” The pilot of this American Airlines flight wasn’t quite Alec Baldwin. If he were he wouldn’t be flying to Charlotte.
(HT: @bags)
Bravo, the Captain of any aircraft or ship has the final say, ON EVERYTHING! The rules are for everyone, to comply, no exceptions!
Federal Aviation Regulations, Part 91.3: (a) The pilot in command of an aircraft is directly responsible for, and is the final authority as to, the operation of that aircraft.
(b) In an in-flight emergency requiring immediate action, the pilot in command may deviate from any rule of this part to the extent required to meet that emergency.
(c) Each pilot in command who deviates from a rule under paragraph (b) of this section shall, upon the request of the Administrator, send a written report of that deviation to the Administrator.
So flying my club’s tiny 1 seat glider I can do anything I want. But back on the ground I’ll have to answer for it.
This captain will have to answer for nothing as he or she did nothing wrong.
O captain, my captain.
I want him for all my flights. Would make things SOOOOOOO much easier showing the dimwits the door right away.
I watched it. The whole “I am God” thing was obviously somewhat sarcastic and tongue in cheek. I know some people will flip out about his phrasing because 2021, but whatever.
Masks really are religion for these people. This captain needs to be relieved and provided therapy.
The pilot should be the “God” of the plane. I wish there were more like him.
Stephen,
The captain was relieved. Relieved when the numbskull was off the plane.
Then given a bonus…..and applause
Seriously, you can’t make it easier or more clear for the moron crowd but…. they still are surprised when things go…..the way they were told they would.
The traveling public requires more Captains like this professional to exhibit spine, courage and a full sense and commitment to their responsibilities – WELL DONE CAPTAIN, WELL: DONE SIR !
PS – Great to see so many positive comments in support of this Captains actions.
DrRichard is exactly right. The pilot of an aircraft is exactly like the captain of a sea going ship.
The captain’s word is FINAL. Don’t like it? GTF off the plane.
Maskers are fascists.
I can only hope that this pilot is on any AA flight I take in the future! Great job sir!!
KUDOS!!!!!
Perhaps not in the best taste but not wrong.
This pilot really acted like a “Captain”! Excellent…..
I totally understand the role that pilots and flight attendants have in ensuring the safety of the passengers on their planes….but at the same point these people seriously need to be put in their place. It may be a small minority of them, but they had better root out this new Nazi population amongst their ranks before this whole situation blows up in their face. Not wearing a mask is not the same as assault or trying to damage an aircraft in flight. If there people can not tell the difference or can not distinguish themselves from a fairy tale deity…..they have mental problems that should preclude them from being in charge of others in any way….no less locked in a tin can at 40,000 feet.
I’m an atheist, but I’ll pray to this pilot just for enforcing masks. Praise the lord.
@jsnowe3312 there’s no constitutional right to fly a plane. Enjoy your bus ride (where you will have to wear a mask too). And you people are the ones who supposedly call liberals snowflakes?
JohnB +1. If you can’t follow reasonable rules don’t board the flight. Good riddance to the passenger and kudos to the pilot.
God? A bit overly dramatic I do believe. For all of you with the “The captain is in command of the ship” people: Yes, he is….just like the drive is in charge of the Greyhound Bus and just like you’re in charge of the fry station (except when Eddie doesn’t show up, then you’re temporarily in command of the grill). I wonder if this was the same dipshit pilot that forced 150 people to sit like North Vietnam POW’s for over an hour last week.
Hey Gary,
Here’s one for you:
Whats the difference between a cactus and a cockpit?
On a cactus, the pricks are on the outside.
Problem is not with the pilot. It’s with the passengers who simply refuse to obey the
rules. Don’t want to follow the rules? Fine. Then go somewhere else, but don’t create a
delay or inconvenience for the other passengers. The trouble-maker (the passenger) got
what he deserved, and was being very self-centered and selfish. It is a common problem
anymore anywhere in American society: Me, myself and I, and screw everyone else.
I believe the pilot (captain), being the “captain” was well within his right to get the trouble-maker
off of the airplane, and this is backed up by 14 CFR (FAA Rules and Regs). That is why
he is called “Pilot In Command” or PIC…..he is fully, 100% responsible for ALL aspects of the
flight, including the passengers, whether the passengers agree or like it or not. The same applies
to the flight attendants who have to endure some of this passenger nonsense. Note that neither
the pilots nor cabin crew make the rules here. They just carry them out and enforce them when
necessary.
You’re nuts too! You must have been drinking too much of that Washington DC Kool Aid along
with all the other nut jobs out there.
The bottom line: the Captain, by virtue of his position, is the unquestioned, ABSOLUTE
AUTHORITY on any airliner. No ifs, ands or butts.
If he needs to use the “God” thing, I am sure it was just a metaphor to get people’s attention
and to show the passengers “who” was in charge and to assert his PIC authority, since most people these days no longer respect any authority from anyone. I am reasonably SURE that the pilot did not actually think or assume he was the real God. However, given the crapola that goes on aboard these airliners these days, and considering this captain has probably seen and heard it before on several of his previous flights, I feel his comments and actions were warranted.
I also feel more drastic action would be appropriate if a passenger caused a problem during
the flight: perhaps being tossed out of the airplane without a parachute might be a good lesson
for other wannbe troublemakers and authority resisters…..
Sooo… what if you’re an atheist on this pilot’s flight?
Honestly, it’s such a poor metaphor from someone who’s probably not very religious – God isn’t some merciless, arbitrary, all powerful entity who literally controls everything and everyone, He is kind and loving and one of His greatest gifts to us is free will, so that we are all free to reject Him and his teachings. We may suffer the eternal consequences (damnation, hellfire, etc) but not necessarily face any immediate blowback beyond which may normally happen in the course of life – lots of people reject God and seem to be fine, and we have no idea if they eventually pay any price.
He should have said “On this plane I’m Stalin” or “I’m H!tler” or some such, because those are people who presided over captive subjects who had no choice but to follow arbitrary rules or face swift and harsh punishment.
Back when coin-operated video game machines at arcades were a place that some school-age kids would hang out if they could, it wasn’t unusual for the video game jockeys to list themselves as G-O-D on the list of high scoring players.
If you are scared of people not wearing masks you should not be flying on a plane.
He is God? Wow! Not too bright I see! Scary what he just opened!
It’s important to wear your mask on a plane – Until you get a bottle of water or drink, and nurse it for over an hour. At which point – It’s ok.
This whole mask mandate is beyond retarded.
@Michael
You are snowflakes, afraid of the scamdemic
OK, enough. Points duly noted.
You are picking fly shit out of horse shit at this point.
Bottom line: Captain is the CAPTAIN and he acted within his authority. If the passenger(s)
didn’t like it, they can complain to management. Even if they do, neither management nor
the pilots unions will do anything, since the pilot is protected under Part 91, 14 CFR. Read
it sometime….get smart on the topic. Its all there in black and white print and it is in the
public domain……
Point is, the pilot laid down the law on his flight. He could have claimed to be anyone, but
what he was trying to convey was his ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY.
Being a pilot myself, I know the drill and I know what a pilot can and cannot do. Once the
airplane doors close, the flight is assumed to have begun, and he IS IN CHARGE AND WHAT HE SAYS GOES……
@David
lemme guess….You’re a Part 107 Pilot right?
Pretty sure they were operating under Part 121.
And to your (sort of) point, its part 121.533 but that’s not the issue here. It’s the Captain, PIC or God as he likes to refer to himself’s snarky and arrogant and unnecessary peptalk that is the problem. All he had to do was professionally handle the problem which airlines like to farm out to law enforcement these days and then professionally and safely operate the flight. This is like the WN flight attendant cheering and clapping as the mask passenger was kicked off. Its just not necessary and adds nothing to the resolution of the issue.
@Chris
Appreciate your comment…a great reminder that some people can process words in ways intelligent people never intended. Cute drone ref, btw. Meanwhile, I’ll continue to applaud the pilots and crew members that take initiative and don’t farm problems off onto LEOs. As Harrison Ford so famously said in a tangential aircraft commander reference, “Get off my plane.”
You know the rules if you fly on x airline. Follow the rules or don’t fly. Drive a car. Get on a bus. Hire a taxi. Take a train. Walk. Run. Try a skateboard. If you want to be Marjorie Taylor Greene, you’re starting out a little lame, but then, she’s really not up to much but a lot of hot air, bad manners and bad taste anyway so maybe you’re right in step with the worst of the “15 minutes of fame” trouble makers. Yeah…go right ahead and make us all laugh you out of another airplane you idiot.
@Ari: This the same Harrison Ford forcefully stripped of his pilot’s license because he can’t tell the difference between a runway and a taxiway and nearly hit an airliner landing on taxiway charlie?
The pilot just placed himself in hell for blasphemy and he is incorrect about the rules. He can choose to ignore the enforcement of ridiculous and excessive mask rules. If he were a man and not a coward, he would instruct the cabin crew to be actual humans instead of drones for the government. Shame on him.
He is also incorrect about total control. He has power over flight safety but he can’t do as he pleases. Rights of passengers don’t go away just because the door closes just like rights don’t go away in the presence of cops. Flight attendants and now pilots deserve nothing but disdain and condemnation. Maybe time has come for computer flown planes.
@Don I think the concern is not necessarily that the rule you are breaking is important or not important in your own evaluation but that you are openly flaunting the rules and demonstrating that you will not follow instructions and requirements. I don’t want I fly with someone who, in an emergency won’t comply or follow instructions bc of whatever they have going in thier head…. and I have I say if you can’t wear a piece of fabric on your face after being told repeatedly to, I can’t imagine how you’ll react when your fellow passengers and your crew is instructing you to do something when seconds means life or death.
I think it’s silly i have to say “yes” to the flight attendant when they do exit row briefing. I KNOW I will comply I KNOW I speak English but if I can’t do this silly little thing, what does that say about me?
@Joey
You know, people who use wheelchairs, don’t speak English, are elderly, have cognitive disabilities also have the potential to hinder YOUR egress in an emergency. Are these folks to be kicked off of any aircraft on which you are a passenger as well?
@Jackson Waterson — actually the pilot does have an almost authoritarian degree of control over the plane during flight; once he is on the ground, he might face consequences if he’s abused that power, but on the plane whatever he says, goes. I don’t really like anarchists flying with me on planes, so I’m rather happy that the pilot can throw people off who make trouble, like anti-maskers, drunks or other riffraff.
There are plenty of laws we all follow that have less justification and are a greater infringement on liberty than the mask rule. But that’s beside the point: even without a masking law on airplanes, the airline can demand you comply with masking as long as they like. When you are on a plane, you are on private property and have to behave as they say. That may be annoying, but that’s the way it is — unless you would like to nationalize the airlines?
Funny, AA must be polytheist because I often run across FA’s and gate agents that all seem to think they are gods.
Funny Gary writes all these anti-“woke” articles…
And then he publishes this one acting all “Karen” about an age-old expression about being “God” in an area over which you have ultimate control.
Clickbait = his next omakase!
Admiralty Law applies to aircraft. Under Admiralty Law, the captain / commander of any vessel is the supreme legal authority. While the invoking the Almighty strikes different impressions among listeners, its colloquial use in the present case gets the point across. If we are going to criticize anyone for this practice, let’s focus on the doctors and attorneys.
Those of you gushing over this captain would go ape dodo if a law enforcement officer said something similar to you.
Actually, David…..we wouldn’t.
Why? We wouldn’t be in the situation in the first place. And anyone who understands the “why” of masks has most likely walked into a business, had someone remind them of the mask policy, then do a ….slightly embarrassed ……apology and ran back to our car to get our mask.
We all realize you can’t remotely comprehend that….. and it’s you and other people of your ilk are the ones currently responsible for the uptick in cases/hospitalizations/deaths in this country.
The good news? Those cases/hospitilizations/deaths….are virtually ALL ….you and people like you. Keep up the good work.
Oh forgot…..FREEDOM!! You’re supposed to scream that at…anything….right?
Hate to tell you, the Captain is god on the airplane.
For good reason.
Title is clickbait, but that is no surprise. Pilot’s statement was perfectly reasonable, because they obviously have had problems with anti-masker passengers in the past. The people who refuse to wear masks should just be banned from flying all together. No need to have them jumping from plane to plane causing problems for everyone.
All this cultural and hidden political underbrush masquerading as intelligent dialogue.. wake up you naysayers. This is the captain All of us should want in our foxholes anytime. Or in command on our flight. He’s not alone. My AA captain did the same smart thing last month. . Protecting all of us from too many sounding off stupid stuff and endangering the rest of us. .
Gary Leff continues with his Trumpesque passive aggressive BS. This blog was meant to incite, divide and cause issues. Clearly the majority here agreed with the CAPTAIN. They are God on the aircraft. Yours and everyone’s lives depend on him. If you don’t like that truth, drive.
Such BS Gary Leff. Keep up the Trumpetting. You’re terrible at it.
@CHRIS@RyanWaldron@Jackson Waterson
I am GOD! You’re a bunch of dumb motherfuckers! Go pray to Chump!
@Roman Scott: Boy you are a self centered egotistical little waste if air aren’t you. If you could turn off your ego for a minute and actually use that thing wasting away between your ears you would see that masks have absolutely nothing at all to do with the number of COVID cases at all. The ignorant people who refuse to get vaccinated are. Had we been vaccinating at the rate previously everyone would be fully immunized and there would be no hosts for the virus to spread. So, if you insist on ventIng your ignorant egotistical rants at anyone, do so towards those who refuse the vaccines and the media scaremongering them into their position for ad revenues. Just ask the immortal savior of the ignorant mask Nazis, Dr Fauchi who while lying to the world about the wonders of masks out one side of his face on TV was whispering the truth out of the other to his peers….the masks that people are using are WORTHLESS at preventing disease. Forcing people to wear them is no different than forcing people to wear ear plugs to stop people from reading the trash people like you spew into the world to feed their egos!
I bet if the plane was going down first thing the pilot would cry for is GOD….Which is not him.. od did not leave the plane….Because his silly pilot is there..
Secondly, “God” does not force actions on individuals to comply, because of actions vulnerable decide not to take.
The masks still have no studies, as to whether they work, just hypothesis, and now they want those responsible enough to care for the irresponsible, or choices they make.
Time for everyone to live their own life and MIND YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS.
My risk is my right. Funny coming from a pilot who CHOOSES to be a pilot WITH HIS RISKS..
Ryan,
Egotistical? Nah. Right? You bet.
Don’t be willfully ignorant. It does seem you want to be on tghe right side of this stuff…. Masking is….and get ready as it’s looking like it may extend past Sept 13th if things keep going this way
My statement above is inclusive of non-vaxxers as have been numerous other statements. Morons all. And your mask stance is putting you right there with them
It isn’t just that clinical test after test after test(ad nauseum) proved masks work, real life examples of places where people adhered to a mask policy showed the same….. The salon in TX where 2 masked stylists served over 100 people and none got CoVid. AZ as a whole when they adopted masks. The Starbucks in S Korea where almost 60 people inside got Covid, the only ones who didnt? Yes, the employees who were all masked. ….it goes on and on. If you like to read go find it yourself. Stop getting info only off TV….or accepting what you hear without asking deeper questions… whether good or bad. There’s plenty of solid info out there from credible sources including, yes…..Fauci.
You seem to be taking one statement from February 2020 and extending that all the way thru the pandemic. What changed? Testing of masks…. (see above) numerous tests show that a decent surgical mask offered significant protection though certainly not as much as an N95. But, when you talk about viral load being a big part of how sick someone gets, any mitigation helps.
Even more so with this Delta variant which now is responsible, I believe, about 1/3 of the cases and going up.
The sciency part is too long to go into here but, to be sure, you can find a LOT of info from credible sources
Let’s not forget Fauci’s changing stance…. this was addressed multiple times and clarified by none other than Pence of all people. The decision to tell people to not wear masks after the shutdown was to give frontline workers some access to them….there weren’t enough. His commitment to it subsequent to that also was the result of seeing testing of masks and scientists learning about transmission.
Remember, it took months for scientists to get a handle on exactly how this virus spreads. They also made it plainly clear that any advice they offered was subject to change. They could offer, especially in the beginning, only what they knew about other Corona viruses as this was new. They articulated that.
It was an impossible position especially when you had an orange twatwad in office making whatever crap up that came to mind.
At least you’re on the right track about anti-vaxxers…..get educated about the rest though
In other Texas and mask on airplane (or not) news, sounds like several of the state Dems that fled to Washington DC have tested positive.
MYOB,
Congrats, you’re officially wrong on EVERY point you made.
Really? God doesn’t force anything on people? You’ve never read the bible then.
The hypothesis is what you have BEFORE you test….. The testing proves or disproves.
In the case of masks….it’s no such thing. Testing is/was done to observe how the virus penetrated, or didn’t the masks.
I seriously won’t go into the sciency part with you. I can’t begin to see how you’d understand even the most basic parts of it but this….masks work. Different types work better than others. And in the case of gaiters, seems they can make things worse.
We’re gonna live our lives son. By kicking one right after the other of you nitwits off the plane.