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from the personnel-in-need-of-de-escalation-training dept.
KTLA TV in Los Angeles reports Video Shows American Airlines Flight Attendant Telling Passenger "Hit Me" After Taking Stroller From Mother
Video of an altercation on an American Airlines flight [April 21] shows an airline employee challenging a passenger to hit him after a flight attendant violently grabbed a woman's stroller [(pram)], according to eyewitnesses.
It's unclear what happened before passengers on flight 591 from San Francisco to Dallas/Ft. Worth started recording, but video shared on Facebook shows a sobbing mother clutching a young child toward the front of the plane, asking employees to give back her stroller.
According to multiple witnesses, the woman, who is from Argentina and was flying internationally, brought her stroller on the plane. When the flight attendant attempted to remove the stroller from the plane, there was an altercation which resulted in the stroller striking the woman and nearly hitting her child.
[...][Passenger and witness Olivia] Morgan said she talked to the woman about the incident. The woman said a female flight attendant told her she could look for space to store the stroller because it folds up very small, but if there was no available space, she would need to check it at the gate.
"She was looking for space when the male attendant tried to take it away from her... and she said she told him the other attendant had told her it was okay to look", [Morgan] said.
[...] In the video, a male passenger can be heard saying that he's "not going to sit here and watch this". The passenger stands up in the aisle and asks the flight crew, "What's the guy's name that did that with the stroller, I want to know the guy's name."
Moments later, a male flight attendant boards the plane, and the passenger who stood up says to him: "Hey bud, you do that to me and I'll knock you flat."
The flight attendant points his finger back at the passenger, moving toward him as he fires back, "You stay out of this!"
When the passenger jumps out of his seat, the flight attendant holds his hands out and says, "Try it. Hit me. You don't know what the story is."
[...] [After the woman refused to let the flight attendant take the stroller, he] then asked for security personnel, which "escalated" the situation, according to [passenger and witness Tom] Watson.
[...] The airline issued the following statement [1] regarding the incident:
We have seen the video and have already started an investigation to obtain the facts. What we see on this video does not reflect our values or how we care for our customers. We are deeply sorry for the pain we have caused this passenger and her family and to any other customers affected by the incident. We are making sure all of her family's needs are being met while she is in our care. After electing to take another flight, we are taking special care of her and her family and upgrading them to first class for the remainder of their international trip.
The actions of our team member captured here do not appear to reflect patience or empathy, two values necessary for customer care. In short, we are disappointed by these actions. The American team member has been removed from duty while we immediately investigate this incident.
[1] Content is behind scripts.
So, are there any airlines that fly where you want to go who have well-vetted, well-trained personnel? Extra points awarded if those have USAian employees/management.
Previous: United Air's Abuses: Doing the Heavy-Handed Thing a Third Time
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Sunday April 23 2017, @07:44PM (24 children)
(Score: 3, Touché) by maxwell demon on Sunday April 23 2017, @08:05PM (12 children)
Would it have been OK if it had been an United Airlines flight attendant?
Would it have been OK if it had been a pilot?
Would it have been OK if it had been another passenger?
Would it have been OK it it had been the mother of a single baby?
Would it have been OK if the women had not been the mother of the twins?
Would it have been OK if it had not been a woman?
Would it have been OK if he had hit her with something else?
Let's reduce the headline to the stuff that really matters:
Human Hits Other Human
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @08:26PM (5 children)
That's speciesist!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 24 2017, @01:48AM (4 children)
Human lives matter. We have to stop human on human crime.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 24 2017, @07:51AM (2 children)
But the vast majority of crimes against humans are committed by other humans! Let's stop trying to ignore the facts! It's not speciest to say "Human Lives Matter!" Oh, and "Get your hand off me, you filthy Ape!" (Planet of the Apes reference, for you younglings.)
(Score: 2) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Monday April 24 2017, @09:36AM (1 child)
But the vast majority of crimes against humans are committed by other humans!
Are you sure about that? I'd be willing to bet that for every human that is deliberately injured by another human, there are a hundred more humans bitten by mosquitoes. For every HoH theft, there is a seagull, raccoon, bear or barbary macaque stealing somebody's lunch. And don't even get me started on bacteria!
KILL ALL NON_HUMANS!
(Score: 1) by Sourcery42 on Monday April 24 2017, @04:52PM
How could you not mention the otters? Everyone always says they're so cute, they're so funny. BS! They exist to knock over my bait and steal fish.
(Score: 2) by WizardFusion on Monday April 24 2017, @08:59AM
What we need is more humans in order to combat this tragic crime
(Score: 3, Insightful) by tfried on Sunday April 23 2017, @08:27PM (1 child)
Sorry, but your reductio ad absurdum does not really work, here. "Mother of twins", where applicable, is an excellent headline-compatible shorthand for the important bit of context that said passenger was travelling with a multitude of - probably small - kids. Mentioning the stroller makes a lot of sense too, as it is also the object of the dispute, and adds further indication that the kids are young, indeed. You're downright insincere in suggesting that roles (flight attendant vs. passenger) don't matter, or that airline affiliation is not a central bit of information to the story.
But sex of the flight attendant? Surely it would be mentioned in the story, if only implicitly by use of pronouns. But what's the purpose of putting it in the headline? Accept it - and mark the day in your calender - for once, TMB is right in calling something sexist.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @08:53PM
Cliiiick baaait! Gimme those sweet sweet ad views of outrage!
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Nuke on Sunday April 23 2017, @11:04PM (2 children)
Human Hits Other Human
There is some implication of blame there, and preconceived right-wing notions of self-determination.
How about :-
Space between two objects reduces to zero
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Monday April 24 2017, @02:03AM
Fake news. Everyone knows that two objects can't occupy the same space at the same time. One object forcefully displaced [youtube.com] the other
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday April 25 2017, @01:35AM
President T disapproves of male-to-female spacing trending towards zero without going negative.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 24 2017, @12:01AM
Would it have been OK if it had been an United Airlines flight attendant?
On United, hitting passengers is mandatory. The guy's obviously angling for a job there. Padding his resume.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by leftover on Sunday April 23 2017, @09:46PM (10 children)
No it would not have been alright. The attendant being male does, however, raise another flag with
old dudes like me: Men do. not. ever. hit. women. Period.
It's a natural law for human males, at least the ones who are not ethically broken.
There are, unfortunately, a number of such broken-failure-wannabe males wandering around because
it is generally against (poorly considered) social laws to kill them upon identification.
Bent, folded, spindled, and mutilated.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Geezer on Sunday April 23 2017, @10:00PM (6 children)
Mod up. Men do not hit women, prevailing social constructs notwithstanding.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @10:27PM (1 child)
My reason in putting the gender in the headline was to pose the question:
Would a female flight attendant have tried to strong-arm the situation?
My guess is NO.
Why then is it ever acceptable for a male doing the same job to presume that it is his place to use physical force?
Note also that if he had invested his time into actually HELPING instead of assigning himself the job of rent-a-cop, maybe stuff could have been shifted around in a way that space for the stroller could be found.
Again, DO *YOUR* FUCKING JOB and **DON'T** go assigning yourself new responsibilities/authority just because you have a Y chromosome.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @11:19PM
She probably wouldn't have the integrity to do that. She'd either have a male employee do it for her or security. In this case we don't even have the start of the altercation.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @11:47PM
My father always said "Never fight with girls. If you win, there's no glory. And if you lose, there is no sympathy."
(Score: 1) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Monday April 24 2017, @02:58AM (2 children)
I learned that one late. I was confused why people were holding me back from hitting a girl about my size (after being provoked).
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Monday April 24 2017, @02:29PM (1 child)
sudo mod me up
(Score: 1) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Monday April 24 2017, @03:57PM
Maybe.
Until that point, I had assumed the "don't hit girls/women" rule was just a special case of "pick on somebody your own size."
(Score: 1, Troll) by Arik on Monday April 24 2017, @12:49AM
Equal rights and equal lefts my man, it's a brave new world.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 24 2017, @08:51AM
I have no idea why this is upvoted so highly. It's quite alright to hit a woman in any situation where it would be alright to hit a man.
There are, unfortunately, a number of such broken-failure-wannabe males wandering around because
it is generally against (poorly considered) social laws to kill them upon identification.
Or perhaps because the woman was legitimately asking for it. Yes, some women do act like abusive sociopaths with the knowledge that white knights like you will stroll on their white horse as soon as they get what they deserve. Crazy, I know it's almost like women are human beings and not perfect angels who can do no wrong.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by cubancigar11 on Monday April 24 2017, @09:15AM
And old dudes like you are the problem. People who think 'men must not hit women' is a great social law but 'killing people upon identification' is a bad social law hindering your virtuous violence. People like you are directly responsible for increasing male suicide and rampant abuse of men.
You are all about controlling the behavior of other people. Only that you have been morally dragged out on the street and shamed out of your existence so you cannot say shit like 'women shouldnt do this, women should do that'. But you find it still okay to control behavior of men.
If someone punches me, that person better be prepared for impending punch. If someone tries to run me over, that person better be good at hiding. Thanks to people like you, I know I cannot rely on judicial system to do justice.
Yeah man you have a huge penis. Keep it in your pants.