Delta Flight 69 To Taipei Diverted After Passenger Used The N-Word And Threatened To Whoop A Flight Attendant

Delta flight 69 from Seattle to Taipei diverted to Anchorage on March 14 to remove a passenger who called a flight attendant the N-word.

• After meal service on the Airbus A350, when a flight attendant was eating in the galley near the lavatory, the passenger allegedly forcefully grabbed the crewmember’s shoulder to get his attention and asked whether the bathroom was occupied.

• The flight attendant said the lock indicator showed it was occupied, turned back to his meal, but the man kept making disrespectful comments. He then used the lavatory, came out, and restarted the argument

• The passenger claims that the flight attendant spoke to him “in a dismissive manner,” and later “responded in a similarly disrespectful manner.”

• He used ‘the N-word’ toward that attendant, and said he was only being treated poorly because he was white, and then threatened to kick the attendant’s ass when the plane landed.

According to a second flight attendant, the confrontation got hot enough that passengers moved toward the galley to try to calm it down. That crewmember notified the cockpit of a level two disturbance, then escalated it to level three, retrieved restraints, stepped between the men, and repeatedly told the passenger to return to his seat.

There’s disagreement over whether the passenger actually took a swing at the flight attendant. Initial reporting on the incident said yes. The FBI affidavit says no. The second cabin crew member says the passenger took a swing but missed. One relief pilot said he saw the passenger lunge. There’s passenger video that doesn’t appear to have circulated in social media that the FBI reviewed, and it did not show any of this.

Once crew escalated to level three, the cockpit had to be locked. The plane was overweight with fuel. They landed, the passenger was removed, arrested, booked into Anchorage Correctional Complex, and charged under 49 U.S.C. § 46504, interference with flight crew. Passengers described the man as drunk. After two hours on the ground the flight continued to Taipei.. still with the moniker 69.

Parenthetically, I never know quite how to handle ‘the N-word’ for reasons expressed in The Newsroom.

(HT: Paddle Your Own Kanoo)