[gitmo]

This is why I haven't flown since 9-11. Not because of the terrorists.

[The FRugitive]

That's insane. Even if it wasn't a joke it's not a crime to ask your pilot if he's been drinking.

[vbmoneyspender]

airline pilots certainly aren't helping their business acting like this. In fact, the pilots are slitting their own throats. Oops, hope I don't get taken away for making an inappropriate comment.

[Eternal_Bear]

It is best to keep silent and know nothing and never, never question authority. Welcome to the Brave New America!

[Lancey Howard]

I wonder if this has ever happened:

A man gets on a plane and shortly before takeoff he calmly calls out to the nearest flight attendant that he wants to get off the plane because, "I'm getting bad vibes about this flight."

I bet anything it's happened before.

[bimbo]

This is why I get the feeling that the terrorists have already won - they have enticed the American Government to enslave its citizens. What more harm could they do?

[csvset]

He should have had his nose shot off when he stuck it inside of the cockpit.

[Textide]

A few days after it was determined that an EgyptAir pilot downed his plane in an apparent suicide (blamed on his family problems), my father had a business flight. Upon boarding the plane he stuck his head in the cockpit and said with a grin, "Your family lives OK?". The pilots and a nearby flight attendent burst out laughing, and assured him that theirs were fine; both chuckling as they responded. Nothing more was made out of it.

He'd have been treated the same as this guy were he to say that today.

[TRY ONE]

Oh no! I can't even speak to my friend on the plane.

I can't say "Hi Jack"

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

The FBI and the U.S. attorney's office will discuss the incident after the holidays and decide whether the man should face the more serious charge of interfering with a flight crew, a federal felony that carries a maximum 20-year prison term, said Monica Shipley, FBI spokeswoman.

Oh, please, if the FBI pursues this, the investigating officers should be sentenced to serve the same time!

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Wiese has weighed in his mind exactly what he should have done differently.

Taking the bus comes to mind.

[Hot Tabasco]

I wish I could have been right there behind the guy because I would have roared with laughter!! There is another thread going on asking which country has the best sense of humor. After what I just read I don't think the U.S. should even make the top 10....... Actually I think the jokester merely ticked a sore nerve

[DeaconRed]

OK
This gets the "NOT-A-LOTT" award.
We can't say anything stupid ever again.
KINDA SAD

[muir_redwoods]

Jokes about bombs are over the line but it seems reasonable to me to wonder if the crew has been drinking. If one can wonder whether a priest is a child-molester or whether a politician is a crook why can't you wonder about the sobriety of a pilot? Saying it out loud may be tacky but it is still well within the protection of the first amendment. Or was when I grew up in America.

[Billy_bob_bob]

You know, I was just considering booking a flight to Denver for a quick weekend trip to see some friends. One of my big considerations was having to deal with the new security measures. I'm glad I read this thread before booking a flight. There's no way I'll put up with this kind of nonsense. I'm hot-tempered to begin with, having some federal martinet in my face for no good reason would result in one mashed martinet face and me on my way to the pokey. Forget it. No way. If I end up going, I'm taking a week off and driving there.

[Revolting cat!]

The clown got off easy! If he had said to the pilot that the country would of been better off had Strom Thurmond won the Presidential election in 1948, all hell woulda broken loose! Death penalty, no doubt!

[PatrioticAmerican]

Americans once again prove they are full of sheep and knee-jerk reactionists. Children, afraid of everything and sensitive to anything.

[Revolting cat!]

I hope that screenwriters of the next Airplane sequel are paying attention and taking notes!

[Revolting cat!]

On the other hand, those who ever worked in the service industry and have experienced the daily insults and abuse that go unpunished, will sympathize. It's an unequal relationship betwen the servant, in this case the pilot, and a paying customer. You're mixed with dirt by some dirtbag and obliged to respond with a smile! Could the pilot or a stewardess ever say to a customer boarding and aircraft: "I hope you don't vomit all over yourself on takeoff?"

[dark_lord]

I concur, flying today in the USA stinks. Unfortunately, fear of litigation may have driven the pilots response. After that comment, if anything happened related to the flight - air turbulence, bumpy landing - some clown passenger could sue and claim - "Yeah, the pilots were drunk! So drunk some guy when he got on board could smell them! He even said - hey are guys drunk real loud when he got on board. And now I have (whiplash, bursitis, emotional strain, etc.) from the terrible experience and I want $1 Billon dollars please right now!"

[Petronski]

The man is a fool and got what he deserved. He had no reason to believe they were drunk, and that is no time for a joke.