From the New Europe: Drunk passenger causes emergency landing

You would think that crews would generally know how to handle a drunk passenger without having to land the plane first. Apparently, some drunks are harder to handle than others. Especially when they use the T word repeatedly.

A Lufthansa passenger jet had to make an emergency landing in the southern Polish city of Katowice earlier today after a drunk, unruly passenger began shouting that he was a terrorist, Reuters reports. The middle-aged, Russian-speaking passenger offered no resistance when an anti-terrorist squad boarded the plane to remove him. He is supposed to be questioned “once he sobers up.”

After a one-hour terrorist break, the Lufthansa Airbus A320 with 118 people on board peacefully continued its journey.

Air Transat makes emergency landing for sick passengers

A plane flying from the Dominican Republic to Canada made an emergency landing Tuesday night in Florida when several of the passengers became ill. When the Air Transat Flight 477 landed at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International airport, eight passengers were wheeled off to the hospital as a precaution.

The Center for Disease Control stated that they were not sure what caused the illness but that it appeared to be something the passengers ate or drank. I was tempted to make a comment about the state of airplane food, but it turns out they were all family members who had eaten together before boarding the plane.

Severe turbulence causes emergency landing in Calgary

Several passengers have been taken to hospital in Calgary, Alberta this morning after an Air Canada Airbus A319 had to make an emergency landing, according to reports. The cause appears to be severe turbulence, which led to passengers and loose items being thrown around the cabin. Luckily, no one is severely injured.

According to one passenger’s account: “It happened very fast. One side of the plane just went up a little bit sideways and then just went back down. Our friend was really hurt. … She flew up and hit the ceiling and went back down.”

With a dad who’s a pilot, I certainly know the meaning of bad turbulence — but it’s pretty rare that turbulence is so severe it causes an emergency landing. Scary.