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[quote]Still, she was denied her reserved seat on the 1:30 flight. Nor did they allow her to board the next flight at 2:58 -- which, of course, was also overbooked. Finally, Mesa's counter personnel refused to let willing passengers switch with the clearly distraught Gotbaum. When she began to weep and protest, they called the police, who handcuffed her arms behind her back and dragged her away to a holding cell. They left her chained alone to a bench, crying inconsolably. Not long after, she was found dead, the chain shackling her to the bench stretched across her throat[/quote]

There is a lot more evidence that she was murdered by airport police, than there is that her behavior warranted the death penalty for having a medical/mental condition.

I had an ex wife who had a disorder diagnosed as Hystrionic personality disorder, an incident like this would set her off in a similar way. However crazy her behavior was, it did not make her deserving of being choked to death in an airport holding cell.

> [quote]Still, she was denied her reserved seat on the 1:30 flight. Nor did they allow her to board the next flight at 2:58 — which, of course, was also overbooked. Finally, Mesa’s counter personnel refused to let willing passengers switch with the clearly distraught Gotbaum. When she began to weep and protest, they called the police, who handcuffed her arms behind her back and dragged her away to a holding cell. They left her chained alone to a bench, crying inconsolably. Not long after, she was found dead, the chain shackling her to the bench stretched across her throat[/quote]

This is the part I don’t understand. If she was in a secure and confined holding area, why was she still handcuffed? Why was she handcuffed in the first place? Was she being violent? Did she spazz out, or do something that could not have otherwise been resolved by a burly security guard showing her the exit door?

Handcuffs are not designed to be worn for extended periods of time: only as long as it takes to get the prisoner to proper confined quarters. Fifteen minutes is more than enough time for most folk. An hour is considered a very long time, and two hours would be excessive.

Cuffing someone to a bench unsupervised would surely be against policy, if not against the law. Prisoners are generally not supposed to be left handcuffed and unsupervised.

I also don’t quite understand how she managed to choke herself with her chains. I’d need to see a diagram.

There is alot with this story that requires diligent enquiry. Something doesn’t smell right. The whole setup seems mickey-mouse (handcuffing someone to a bench using chains? That sounds Eighteenth-Century at best!)

There is more to this story than meets the eye.

“There is a lot more evidence that she was murdered by airport police, than there is that her behavior warranted the death penalty for having a medical/mental condition.”

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Actually, most of what is out there now consists of rumor, speculation, accusation and innuendo. More than a few reports, especially initially, were out and out wrong. I’m not sure we have any actual evidence of a crime committed against Ms. Gottbaum. Investigation (actually more than one investigation)into the matter is still going on. I’m not blaming or defending anyone at this point...I’d just rather wait till the investigations are over and some actual evidence is in.

I personally think this Washington Post article is irreponsible at this point. What is its purpose, besides inciting hatred and perhaps fear of Useless Air and flying in general? Bad enough that I know some folks who are afraid to fly since 9/11, but why try to instill even more fear and loathing, especially since we don’t know all the facts of this particular situation?