A Flight Was Forced to Turn Around After a Passenger's Tantrum Over Their In-flight Meal

Travel and Leisure ^ | April 21, 2025 | Rachel Chang

[CodeToad]

I hope the others passengers let the adult-child know of their anger towards it.

[Albion Wilde]

There’s a much more sensible solution, namely legislation mandating jail sentences for any disruptive behavior that requires the flight crew to abandon the original flight plan.

Sports arenas in major cities have a judge and a jail in the premises because of known rowdy customers and fights breaking out after alcohol is consumed.

On a plane, the pilot is the judge, and there should be a sequester cell, preferably sound-proof, with a latrine in the corner. The unruly passenger must surrender a driver's licence, passport or credit card like a regular jail, in case of damages. Civil authorities assume custody upon landing.

In this case, the other passengers should not have had to delay their arrival in Italy because of a disrupter.

Imagine the perp landing in an Italian jail and courtroom. Their "rights" are not like ours, their trials go on forever, and their prisons are full of really bad guys, easily as bad or worse than ours.

[takebackaustin]

“They would undoubtedly have to dump significant fuel before landing.”

The article says they were almost at the halfway point so that is not necessarily so. Also going back to the USA (west) generally you have headwind instead of tailwind.

Maybe they wanted to go back to US legal jurisdiction to deal with the disruptive passenger, even if near the halfway point.

[JimRed]

International flights should be in an aircraft equipped with a brig.

[BerryDingle]

I am sure this behavior is also criminal.

The penalty should be severe enough that no one would dream of committing it. First offense 5 years in prison. Dipsticks like this deliberately disrupt the country.

[cpdiii]

First Class from Denver to Dallas I had free drinks of which I did not take and packs of snacks. First Class today is simply economy with a wider seat! I long for the days of First Class in the seventies and in particular Singapore Air. You board the plane and once sitting down most beautiful ladies would come with a hot towel and take your order for a drink while waiting to depart and snacks not out of a package. I remember caviar once and always cheeses. Prior to take off they would secure the cabin and once airborne with the seat belt sign off would attend to us with a fine meal served on China and drinks.

[Steely Tom]

.If they were half way when they turned around, uh, NO.

So they dumped the excess fuel through the engines; it still cost a lot of money to bring the "disruptive passenger" back.

Good point about US jurisdiction.

I do wish I'd read a couple sentences further into the article before I typed my comment.

[sit-rep]

its all good dude... I dont think there is anyone here who hasnt done it...

[cpdiii]

Shortly after 9/11 a crazy man tried to breech the cockpit door on a flight in the USA. I think it was American or United, I do not remember. The passengers restrained him and he would not quit fighting them. They sat on him and he died. Kinda sad but totally correct. They did not want to kill him but did. FAFO. The passengers were not charged. It was a sad case of justifiable but unintentional homicide.