Watch out, obnoxious passengers! Kung fu lessons for Hong Kong Airlines cabin crew

by Sean McLachlan on

Working as part of an airline cabin crew can be a tough job, just ask Gadling’s very own Heather Poole. Passengers get drunk, passengers get rude, sometimes even passengers go on strike. Now the cabin crew of one airline are getting trained to strike back.

Hong Kong Airlines staff are taking kung fu lessons, the Guardian reports. The cabin crew is learning Wing Chun kung fu in order to deal with obnoxious passengers. According to the airline, a female cabin crew member has already used her new-found combat skills to deal with an unruly passenger, who an airline spokesman described only as “a fat guy”.

Maybe getting your add kicked at 33,000 feet should be added to our list of Top 10 Hong Kong Experiences.

[Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons]

Crazy passenger sprays water in cabin, threatens to blow up plane with the help of Satan

by Scott Carmichael on

It has been several weeks since we last featured an unruly passenger – but the suspect in today’s story more than makes up for that.

Stanley Sheffield was flying the Delta red-eye from Los Angeles to Tampa earlier this week when he went a little cuckoo.

According to fellow passengers, Sheffield started throwing water through the cabin, then tried to open the airplane door while threatening to blow up the plane.

Then, after yelling “I’m going to blow you guys up and I’m going to take everybody with me”, he headed for the cockpit door yelling “get behind me, Satan”.

He was then subdued by fellow passengers. One of the men who held Sheffield was Kevin Kennedy, broadcaster for the Tampa Bay Rays.

Mr. Sheffield now faces charges for interfering with a flight crew and destruction of an aircraft. Local police did say they don’t see his actions as terrorist related. According to his ex-wife, her former husband need some serious medical help. Fingers crossed he gets the help he needs – and is kept off any airplanes for the time being.

(Suspect image from Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office)

Drunk man forces Moscow-Atlanta flight to divert to Canada

by Josh Lew on

Yesterday, a Delta Airlines flight from Moscow to Atlanta had to make an unexpected stop in Newfoundland after the pilot decided that an unruly passenger had to be removed from the plane. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police were waiting at the gate in the town of Gander. They immediately took the man into custody.

Few details about his behavior were given, but he was said to be drunk, aggressive, and unruly. However, the man did not injure any other passengers. The flight arrived in Atlanta about 4 hours late. There were more than 200 people on board.

Canadian authorities are expected to file charges against the man, who is still being held by the Mounties. His identity has not yet been released. A passenger told an Atlanta newspaper that he noticed an empty bottle of Chivas (the 1.5 liter variety) next to the man’s seat. Other passengers said that the man had also taken prescription medication along with the alcohol.

These women weren’t drunk — but they did cause a stir in the air. Click the pics to find out what they did.


Hermès Heir Gets Crotchety on Flight

by Mike Barish on

According to the NY Times, an heir to the Hermès fashion fortune got a little too touchy feely on a recent Air France Flight. It’s an odd episode that involves drinking, crotch grabbing and excessive restraints.

Mathias Guerrand-Hermès sidled up to a young mademoiselle in first class. She was a bit put off by this and woke her husband, who was – not so shockingly – similarly unamused by Mr. Guerrand-Hermès’ advances.

Guerrand-Hermès refused to listen to a flight attendant’s request to return to his seat so she summoned the captain. And here’s where things go from uncomfortable to erotic. When approached by the captain, Guerrand-Hermès decided his best mode of defense was the ol’ crotch grab. Thankfully, the captain was able to withstand this awkward maneuver and Guerrand-Hermès was eventually subdued in his seat. By three (male) flight attendants. And handcuffs. And shackles. And by being tied down.

Guerrand-Hermès claims that he mixed Propofan (a prescription drug similar to aspirin) with “quite a bit of alcohol.” I’m no doctor, but that sounds like a bad idea. But since the label didn’t say, “Side effects include lewd advances on married women and homoerotic attack strikes,” can you really blame him for the mix-up?

One can only hope that this bad publicity doesn’t hurt his career as a socialite and polo player.

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