Delta's Disturbing Oklahoma City Flight Diversion

This is an outlandish incident that, unfortunately, has become more and more commonplace. Seems the biggest impact of the coronavirus pandemic hasn't been respiratory illness but mental madness.

Well I couldn't agree that the _biggest_ impact has been to mental wellness since the death toll from coronavirus is staggering and ongoing but yes, our society as a whole desperately needs several rounds of psychological counseling moving forward. Just imagine what air travel might be like if this psychotic behavior becomes the norm- or even occurs on a measurable percentage of flights. Who will feel comfortable travelling if there is even a 1% chance that someone is going to have a break with reality and perform bizarre actions like trying to open a door mid-flight (impossible though that may be to carry out) or rush the cockpit (again, not actually possible post- 9/11).

Thank Buddha that bloke on the right was brave enough to film the incident.

Off-duty FA in first class that should know you can't likely open a door in flight while wearing a helmet. Interesting. I know odd things have happened for years but why is it that stuff like this has escalated post-covid?

True millennial on the right there, filming with his phone, votes Biden/Harris for sure

I wonder if he had recently had brain surgery or a brain injury, hence the helmet and strange behavior.

True boomer right here. You have a short memory, remember that failed insurrection your compatriots held in January? How they all got caught because they filmed it on their phones? Take several seats.

I’m not sure stopping someone from trying to open the door mid flight is “selfless”. I can assure you I need no more fist fights in my life but if you try and F with the plane I’m on….ohhhhh I’m going to town.

I think you may be on to something here. This guy seems to have some kind of a mental break. A surgery may have contributed here.

I’m curious if he was flying non-rev? If he was, wouldn’t a gate agent (or on-duty attendant) have asked “what’s with the helmet?” before he boarded? You see everything with the general public, but non-revs know the standards to expect from each other. Also, was it ever confirmed that it was a Delta flight attendant? The question from Alan is a good one I had not thought of.

The request was for all able bodied men. Not women. Sexism?

Had to do this on an Alaska redeye last month: restrain a passenger to the floor who was having a schizophrenic episode and the plane had to divert.

FYI, flight attendants go through airport security just like everyone else. Often they have an employee checkpoint, but it has xrays and metal detectors, and everyone working at the airport -- including the pilots -- goes through it.

"Fortunately it’s virtually impossible to open that at cruising altitude, due to the difference in pressurization between the inside and outside of the cabin."

Totally minor point but the pressure inside the plane is typically greater than outside, it's usually maintained at a pressure equivalent to about 8,000 ft above sea level.

Not going to speculate what happened with the off-duty flight attendant but I think it's clear he/they were suffering from some sort of mental or emotional illness and I'm glad everyone remained safe. I will say flight attendants have received a massive amount of abuse from passengers this year.

Safe to say he's now a FORMER off duty flight attendant.....?

Why bring in any political talking points into this conversation? The story is about mental illness or issues possibly causing the Off duty Delta Flight attendant to act out the way he did. Not about anyone's political parry.

Man - another incident in the US. Seems like the US is the in-flight confrontation capital of the world. Never in fifty years of traveling around the world have I encountered such experiences except from in the USA. Disgusting.

Seems like mental illness is on a rise in the US.

BTW - opening the emergency door is not "virtually" impossible but simply impossible at that altitude.

The incident aboard that flight (and the rising number of such events) says a lot about America. There is simply no excuse for this (and I am an American). Yes, flying was a decidedly unpleasant experience before the pandemic and it certainly hasn't improved particularly if you have to fly coach, but there's no excuse for this. I was aboard a transcontinental flight just the other day and a mother of 2 who was settling her kids into their seats as the boarding door was closing, was politely asked by the flight attendant to be seated so we could push back. The mother barked at the flight attendant and said it 'wasn't her problem" and called her a "bitch". Americans can't seem to get out of each other's way.

This is absolutely incorrect. Flight attendants and pilots have access to Known Crewmember, which is an expedited entry point to the terminal without having to go through security. Only a small number are flagged as “random” and sent to the main security checkpoint. Even then, you still have much more flexibility than the general public as to what you can take through the security check point.

This pilot should be fired and cancelled immediately!!!!!

Trump is just a symptom of serious illness in America where dumb people have managed to get outsized power at every level.

i bring a bicycle as baggage and wear my bike helmet on board.
god what else can be banned on board. now i cant wear my bike helmet. is anything left that i cant bring. how about my yoga mat is that a weapon

Given time, some idiot (terrorist-?) will find a way to weaponize a Yoga mat!