Posted on 03/20/2005 5:20:30 AM PST by KeyLargo
New York Post
DEATH IN THE AIR
By MURRAY WEISS and CYNTHIA R. FAGEN
A Brooklyn man who went berserk aboard a JFK-bound airliner died Friday night after being handcuffed and held down by seven athletes who had come to the aid of the flight crew.
William Lee, 48, got out of hand aboard American Airlines Flight 4 from Los Angeles after flight attendants told him he couldn't have any more booze, airline spokesman Tim Smith told The Post.
Lee, who had told the Boeing 767 cabin crew he was despondent over a breakup with his girlfriend, was declared dead at Jamaica Hospital shortly after Flight 4 requested a priority landing at JFK at 8:33 p.m., federal authorities said.
Lee, a frequent flier who worked in the clothing industry, was seated in row 35.
"He'd had a couple of beers and a vodka during the five-hour flight, which is not an issue," said American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith.
Then in the last hour of the flight, "He stood up and demanded a beer. They said to sit down and they would be there shortly. That's when he flew off the handle. That was the fuse," Smith said.
"He got very belligerent and pretty excited and was pretty abusive. He said, 'This isn't right. You should be serving me.' "
Lee "pushed an attendant out of the way" and "was in a rage in an effort to get past her," Smith said.
"Seven male passengers saw this. I think she felt threatened by him."
Transportation Safety Administration spokeswoman Ann Davis said Lee was trying to force his way to the cockpit.
The seven passengers, believed to be members of an international rugby team, held Lee down, and he was restrained with plastic cuffs.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
"Transportation Safety Administration spokeswoman Ann Davis said Lee was trying to force his way to the cockpit."
Mr. Lee's sister said, "I can't believe how uncaring the airline is." --------------------------------- Rugby fans take their game seriously.
A man had a ticket for the Rugby World Cup Final but was seated in the upper, nosebleed seats. As the match begins, he notices an empty seat down near the pitch on the midfield line. Taking a chance, he makes his way down to the empty seat and asks the man next to it if anyone is sitting there.
"No", says the seated man," That seat is empty." "This is incredible," says the other man. "Who in their right mind would have a seat like this for the World Cup Final, the biggest sporting event in the world, and not use it?"
The seated man says "Well, actually, the seat belongs to me. I was supposed to come with my wife, but she passed away. This is the first Rugby Final we haven't been to together since we got married in 1987". "Oh ... I'm sorry to hear that. That's terrible. But couldn't you find someone else - a friend or relative, or even a neighbour to take the seat?".
The seated man shakes his head. "No. They're all at the funeral."
Rule #1: Know when there's a Rugby Team on your flight.
Very bad luck for Mr. Lee.
It is ultimately still up to the Passengers unless the pilot is armed IMO.
Rule #2: There are limits on alchohol served to passengers. Bring your own six-pack.
There should be some basic common sense survival tips given to people. One of the obvious ones would be, don't have a melt down on a airplane.
Mr Lee says from the afterlife:
Rule#1: Don't be a lil beotch like me, payback IS a beotch when the passengers get fed up! !! ! ! !
Further in the story, it states that his wife claimed he was not a big drinker. Perhaps Mrs. Lee was unaware of other things too.
"He was never a big drinker," Lee's wife, Meena, told The Post about her church going husband. "He was never violent. That's the reason I don't believe it."
His stunned family said no one from the airline has contacted them
Alrighty then.. Let's see, it mentions a bust up with his girlfriend, yet it quotes a wife... He's not a drinker.. yet he's bellowing for more booze... Usually quite as a church mouse...
I'm stuned, stuned I tell ya'
The comments here are really off-the-mark and perversely casual, IMHO. Nothing that this guy did raise to the level to warrant that he be, in essence, suffocated by a gang of athletes.
This was not a shoe-bomber, this was a drunk. Somebody (the athletes, the airline) is going to pay dearly for this.
Why Haldol should be available in a dart gun dispenser for ER use on Saturday night.
Sounds amazingly similar to a recent CSI episode.
Ah let me guess, a personal injury lawyer?
The walls and ceiling outside the cabin could be studded with tasers, ready to be triggered from within the cabin.
BTW, I had pointed this guy out to a Flight Attendant BEFORE we left because he was very evidently acting in a weird manner. They took no action!
Isn't it pathetic? They are a curse on this country.
If I sat on a jury judging this case, there would be not one penny awarded, and I'd ask the judge to sanction the filthy greedy lawyer pirate for wasting everybody's time.
-ccm
Nonetheless, as a compromise, I suggest the airline allow Mr. Lee's frequent flier miles to be transferred to his heirs rather than forfeited.
"Ah let me guess, a personal injury lawyer?"
More probably an American. Being deprived of the most Unalienable of Rights without due process shouldn't require a lawyer's mentality (please excuse the oxymoron)to ascertain that some rugby players do not a jury make.
The autopsy should prove interesting. For the player's sake one must hope exonerating facts will be forthcoming.
Hint: sell that airline stock short.
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