'A little bit of fatherhood': Airline pilot goes viral after telling passengers what behavior won't fly



An American Airlines pilot is receiving high praise after a passenger's video documenting his recent preflight scolding went viral.

While some regarded the indiscriminate reprimand as patronizing, others appear happy to see someone finally put his foot down regarding bad flying etiquette. One Harvard Business School fellow has even indicated the pilot demonstrated a much-needed style of leadership.

Passenger Anna Leah Maltezos' video of the pilot's speech, posted to Instagram on July 26, has been seen well over 5.2 million times and presently has nearly 400,000 likes.

In the video, the captain of the American Airlines Boeing 737 can be heard over the plane's intercom setting down law and custom so that there can be no mistaking what sort of behavior won't fly.

"Remember, the flight attendants are primarily here for your safety," he said. "After that, they're going to make your flight more enjoyable. They're going to take care of you guys, but you will listen to what they have to say because they represent my will in the cockpit ... and my will is what matters."

The captain then listed a few of his high-altitude commandments, including:

  • "Be nice to each other";
  • "Be respectful to each other";
  • "Don't lean on people";
  • "Put your junk where it belongs";
  • "Don't pass out on other people or drool on 'em unless you've talked about it and they have a weather-assisted jacket."

"I shouldn't have to say that — you people should treat people the way you want to be treated — but I have to say it in every single flight because people don't and they're selfish and rude," he continued. "We won't have it."

The American Airlines captain had a great deal more to get off his chest in the form of what he characterized as "a little bit of fatherhood."

"The social experiment of listening to videos on speaker mode and talking on a cell phone in speaker mode — that is over," he said. "Over and done in this country. Nobody wants to hear your video. I know you think it's super sweet. It probably is, but it's your business, right? So keep it to yourself."

Toward the end of his speech, the pilot played Solomon, making quick work of dividing arm rests among the passengers by noting that "middle seaters ... own both armrests."

One of the most-liked comments on the video was, "The people complaining about his speech are the people that need to hear it."

Another comment, which received over 41,000 likes, similarly suggested, "If you're offended by this speech, congrats, you're the problem."

Maltezos, the passenger who captured the speech on video, told People, "It did seem oddly quiet afterward though ... maybe everyone was just so awed by the gift of double armrests they were left speechless."

Bill George, an executive fellow at Harvard Business School, told CNBC, "I say bravo to the American Airlines pilot. He has every right to do that. He’s the captain of the flight, and he’s in charge of what happens. ... If something goes wrong, he has the obligation to go back to the nearest airport and land ... and no passenger likes that."

To George's point, a United Airlines flight recently had to turn around hours into its journey from San Francisco to Taiwan owing to a "disruptive passenger," reported USA Today.

Brawls and other disruptions are unfortunately not uncommon.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, there there have been at 1,123 unruly passenger reports so far this year. In 2022, there were 2,455. The previous year was particularly bad, with nearly 6,000 reports of unruly passengers.

George said leaders like the pilot in the video have "the right to set some standards of behavior."

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Feds, military raid wrong hotel room; interrogate, handcuff innocent guest during botched training exercise



Federal agents and military personnel raided the wrong Boston hotel room and detained an innocent guest in a botched training exercise Tuesday, NPR reported.

"First and foremost, we’d like to extend our deepest apologies to the individual who was affected by the training exercise," U.S. Army Special Operations Command Lt. Col. Mike Burns told CNN.

"It is just shocking and quite disturbing to learn that this had happened," Boston's Mayor Michele Wu told WXFT.

The FBI's Boston division was reportedly assisting the military with a training exercise when the mishap occurred.

"Based on inaccurate information, they were mistakenly sent to the wrong room and detained an individual, not the intended role player," the FBI told the outlet, adding also that no one was injured.

The blunder occurred Tuesday night in room 1505 at the Revere Hotel Boston Common on Stuart Street, CBS News affiliate WBZ-TV reported. Tripadvisor's 5,937 reviews rank the "Travelers' Choice" downtown hotel at about 4.5 of 5 stars.

Agents from the FBI and the Department of Defense reportedly banged on the door where two Delta pilots were sleeping inside, WXFT reported.

When one of the pilots opened the door, agents "barged in, handcuffed the man who is in his 30s, interrogated him and put him in the shower." It took more than 45 minutes for the agents to realize their mistake and remove the handcuffs. The man reportedly refused treatment by EMS and declined to comment to WBZ reporters.

Delta released a brief statement to the outlet. In the statement, Delta reaffirmed its commitment to the safety and well-being of staff. The statement also noted the company was looking into an alleged incident in Boston in which "Delta people" might have been involved.

Boston Police responded to the scene around 12:20 a.m. and confirmed that the FBI's Boston Division and U.S. Department of Defense were conducting a training exercise, CNN reported.

A statement released by the FBI to the outlet said, in part, that the training exercise was meant to "simulate a situation their personnel might encounter in a deployed environment."

"Safety is always a priority of the FBI, and our law enforcement partners, and we take these incidents very seriously. The Boston Division is reviewing the incident with DOD for further action as deemed appropriate," the statement also said.

The investigation could result in recommendations that could lead to judicial proceedings under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, according to CNN.

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Pilot lands plane with venomous cobra on board



A pilot in South Africa managed to safely land a plane after learning that he had an unwanted passenger aboard. Rudolf Erasmus landed the aircraft after a venomous Cape cobra came in contact with him during the flight.

Erasmus reportedly told CNN that he experienced a "cold sensation … underneath my shirt at my hip area."

"At first, I thought it was my water bottle leaking," he noted, according to the outlet. "As I then turned to my left and I looked down, I saw the head of the snake receding back underneath my seat."

"I usually travel with a water bottle that I lodge between my leg and my hip towards the side wall of the aircraft. When I felt this cold sensation where my love handles are, I thought my bottle was dripping," he said, according to TimesLIVE. "As I turned to my left and looked down, I saw the cobra putting its head back underneath my seat."

"I had a moment of stunned silence, not sure if I should tell the passengers because I didn't want to cause a panic. But obviously they needed to know at some point what was going on," he said, according to TimesLIVE.

Erasmus alerted the passengers about the problem, and he eventually landed the plane.

The snake was under the seat when Erasmus disembarked, but unfortunately, because it later disappeared, it was not captured.

"He remained calm in the face of a dangerous situation and managed to land the aircraft safely without any harm to him or his fellow passengers on board, displaying to the world that he is an aviation safety ambassador of the highest order," South African Civil Aviation Authority director of civil aviation Poppy Khoza noted regarding the pilot.

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FACT CHECK: Is This A Photo Of Queen Elizabeth II In A Spitfire Fighter Plane?

The image is digitally altered

Southwest pilot threatens to turn the plane around after cyber-flasher AirDropped nude photo to fellow passengers



Passengers aboard a recent Southwest Airlines flight to Mexico received a complimentary gift on their phones before takeoff. Unfortunately, most of them didn't want it.

As the air travelers were all preparing to take off from Houston's William P. Hobby Airport to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, an unidentified person sent them a nude photo of a man via AirDrop, an Apple app that allows users to share files wirelessly.

When the unnamed pilot of the plane got wind of the inappropriate photo, he took to the intercom and asked everyone to behave, or else, he said, he'd be forced to turn the plane around. Though it is unknown whether the pilot is a father himself, he certainly channeled a dad persona in that moment.

"So here's the deal," the pilot said. "If this continues while we're on the ground, I'm going to have to pull back to the gate, everybody's going to have to get off, we're going to have to get security involved, and vacation is going to be ruined."

"So you folks, whatever that AirDrop thing is," the dad voice added, "quit sending naked pictures. Let’s get yourself to Cabo."

Passenger Teighlor Marsalis captured the speech on her phone and posted it to TikTok on August 25. The video currently has over 2 million views.


Marsalis, 30, told reporters that she and her husband, Blaine, were aboard the plane, heading to Cabo for a vacation. She allegedly received an AirDrop notification while she was sitting in her seat, waiting to taxi to the runway. She declined the shared document, though two women sitting near her accepted it and shared its contents with her.

"It was a nude man that had AirDropped himself to everyone," Marsalis said, though it's unclear whether the man in the photo was on board as well.

Passengers reported the incident to a flight attendant, who then alerted the pilot. The pilot's speech may have had its intended effect since, according to Marsalis, flight attendants resumed their preflight responsibilities within 10 minutes, and the plane took off and landed in Cabo without further incident.

Though Southwest hasn't confirmed the event, it did release a statement.

"The safety, security and wellbeing of customers and employees is the Southwest team's highest priority at all times," the statement reads. "When made aware of a potential problem, our employees address issues to support the comfort of those traveling with us."

A similar incident, known as cyber-flashing, occurred on another Southwest flight in June.

Sending unsolicited explicit photos is actually against the law in Texas, one of the only states to have banned it. Cyber-flashers can be fined up to $500 per offense.

Alaska Airlines flight delayed because two pilots just couldn't 'get along'



Passengers on Alaska Airlines flight 1080 from Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C., to San Francisco on July 18 had a bumpy ride long before the plane ever took off.

The flight itself had already been delayed an hour and a half due to inclement weather. However, once everyone was on board and the plane headed for the tarmac, it suddenly turned around and headed back to the gate. Not because of a pop-up storm or equipment failure, but because the pilot and co-pilot just couldn't "get along."

According to reports, allegedly from passengers, the pilot took to the intercom as he taxied the plane back to the gate and informed everyone on board that he and his co-pilot had "a failure to get along" and that "in the interest of safety," he was returning them back to the place from whence they came.

Once they had docked safely at the gate, the pilot allegedly hurried off the plane "fuming." One passenger took a video of him with the caption "@AlaskaAir there goes your pro pilot, off into the sunset."

Other passengers seemed just as frustrated by the sudden turn of events:

\u201c@AlaskaAir. First (and last) time flying with you.... After an hour and a half delay, we now return to the terminal due to "a failure of the captain and first officer to get along". \n\nAll I can say is wow....just wow. \n #AS1080. #FAIL #flightdelay \n@AmericanAir -#AA - AA7516\u201d
— Chris Schumm (@Chris Schumm) 1658180879


\u201c@tomcostellonbc this is a first for me. Alaska #1080 from IAD to SFO, already delayed due to weather, comes back to gate. Pilot says he and his first officer can\u2019t get along\u2026 so in the interest of safety..\u201d and then leaves the plane.\u201d
— Al Jackson (@Al Jackson) 1658182277


\u201c#alaska 1080 just returned to gate because the pilot and copilot couldn\u2019t get along. Seriously. Pilot just left plane fuming after returning to gate from the tarmac. This is absolute ridiculous.\u201d
— NicaCounselor (@NicaCounselor) 1658180991

Despite the complaints on social media, the passengers ultimately didn't fare too badly. The spat cost them an additional hour, which, when combined with the weather delay, meant that they arrived at their destination at 9:34 p.m. instead of 7:05 p.m. Alaska Airlines also offered each person on board $175 to help compensate for the inconvenience.

Meanwhile, passengers on a flight from Dulles to Los Angeles were similarly delayed two and a half hours because their pilot was selected to fill in for the absconded pilot on the San Francisco flight, but the L.A. passengers weren't given any kind of compensation, monetary or otherwise, for the inconvenience.

There were also many in the airline industry and on social media who defended the decision to abort takeoff rather than risk the safety of everyone on board because the two pilots weren't able to communicate.

"Hi guys! Although very annoying & inconvenient, as a pilot myself, I think the way things ended up was MUCH better for all you passengers! B/c I sure as hell wouldn’t have wanted to be on that flight knowing the guys up on the flight deck were quarrelling! A recipe for DISASTER!!" tweeted @RobertStuScott1, though it is unclear whether he was on the flight.

A representative from Alaska Airlines also defended the decision in a statement: "While this situation was unfortunate, in the interest of safety, the pilots did the right thing. Both the captain and the first officer was evaluated by management and it was determined they remained fit to fly… We apologized to our guests for the inconvenience this caused."

'Let's Go Brandon' tag on pilot's luggage angers 'Karen' passenger. American Airlines vows 'internal review' — but allowed BLM pins on flight attendants in 2020.



A woman who identified herself as a passenger on an American Airlines flight complained to the airline on Twitter about a "Let's Go Brandon" tag on a pilot's luggage, Fox News reported.

"Y'all cool with your pilots displaying this kind of cowardly rhetoric on their crew luggage when they're in uniform, about to fly a plane?" the woman reportedly asked the airline. "We are not the only passengers who noticed and were disgusted."

The passenger in question has since made her Twitter account private, Fox News said, but images of her tweet and subsequent chat with the airline survived:

Dana Finley Morrison has a problem with an American airline pilot with a Let's go Brandon tag on his luggage. There's an internal investigation now. \n\nIn 2018 American Airlines allowed their staff to wear BLM pins.\n\nLike what ever happen to AMERICA..pic.twitter.com/AROswBg9x9
— Neo Jane (@Neo Jane) 1641825310

Here's American Airlines' initial response on Twitter:

Thank you for bringing this to our attention and we want to get this to the right team. Please DM any additional details.
— americanair (@americanair) 1641688494

Fox News said the woman then posted what she claimed were direct messages with AA representatives, and the cable network posted an image of that chat. It begins with the woman complaining about "political propaganda" and "images that support the insurrection of our gov't/sitting president."

The phrase "Let's Go Brandon" has become well-known code for "F*** Joe Biden," which those who dislike the sitting president use in lieu of profanity.

"We hold our team members to the highest standards and expectations," the airline said in response, also promising that appropriate AA officials would review the matter and that "we take this very seriously."

But what about Black Lives Matter pins?

American Airlines made headlines in September 2020 when it announced it would allow flight attendants to wear Black Lives Matter pins while on duty. The decision came amid that summer's protests and riots over the death of George Floyd in the hands of Minneapolis police.

"Clearly we live in a time where it is so important to have a dialogue about this important issue of racism in our society and try to find common ground," the airline wrote in a company-wide announcement. "American is truly committed to having an inclusive culture that is welcoming to all and a reflection of our country and world."

But some AA employees were angry about the announcement, saying colleagues who don't wear BLM pins could be ostracized. Some opponents also vowed to wear items showing support for police and then-President Donald Trump in response.

How did folks react to the 'Let's Go Brandon' complaint?

A number of Twitter commenters made it abundantly clear that American Airlines should not punish the pilot and that the complainer is out of line.

Conservative journalist Mollie Hemingway tweeted, "Hope he and everyone else gets a raise for having to deal with Karen passengers such as this one."

Christina Pushaw, press secretary for Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, tweeted that the pilot "deserves a raise for dealing with entitled Karens while doing his job."

"Don’t fire your pilots for being conservative or criticizing Biden," Pushaw added, according to Fox News. "We won’t have any pilots left. As if the thousands of flight cancellations aren’t enough already. @AmericanAir do the right thing."

Others agreed — and promised repercussions:

  • "This ain’t it AA," one user stated. "I won’t fly your airlines if you punish this pilot."
  • "If you fire this guy, I’m never using your airline again," another commenter vowed.
  • "If you take ANY action against these pilots and crew members because this Karen complained about her overprotected sensibilities, I promise you I will never fly @AmericanAir again," another user said, adding that "this’ll make the rounds in the media until you lose 40%+ of your customer base."

Fox News said American Airlines didn't immediately respond to its request for comment regarding the "Let's Go Brandon" complaint.

Anything else?

The airline isn't the only one forced to deal with the "Let's Go Brandon" phenomenon.

A few months back leftists lost it when a Southwest pilot said, "Let's go, Brandon" over the plane's intercom.

An AP reporter aboard the flight said she was almost removed when she tried to gain access the flight deck to ask the pilot about his remark. In addition, a Harvard professor and CNN analyst insisted that every passenger should file a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration over the remark.

Sister of pilot killed on Sept. 11 absolutely excoriates leftists who liken Jan. 6 Capitol riot to 9/11 terror attack that claimed nearly 3,000 lives



We know that supposed conservative writer George Will infamously declared that he wants to see the Jan. 6 Capitol riot "burned into the American mind as firmly as 9/11 because it was that scale of a shock to the system."

We know that Huffington Post senior White House correspondent S.V. Dáte defended Will by saying the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was "1000 percent worse" than 9/11.

We know that Democratic lawmakers desperately want to slow-cook the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and investigate it as if it was on the scale of 9/11 — a desire that will have to fester a bit longer after the push failed to get off the ground in the U.S. Senate a few days ago.

But amid all of their politicizing, virtue-signaling short memories and short-sightedness, Debra Burlingame — sister of a pilot killed on 9/11 — splashed some cold water on leftist faces in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, telling them they're out of their minds if they believe honest Americans buy their tall tale that the Jan. 6 riot was in the same universe as 9/11.

What did Burlingame have to say?

"The attempt to reconfigure the 'domestic terrorist' narrative to fit the horrifying story of Sept. 11 is profoundly disheartening," Burlingame wrote. "These two events are fundamentally different in nature, scope, and consequences. Mentioning them in the same breath not only diminishes the horror of what happened on 9/11; it tells a false story to the generation of Americans who are too young to remember that day nearly 20 years ago."

She explained that her brother, Charles "Chic" Burlingame, was the pilot of American Airlines flight 77 and "was murdered in his cockpit at age 51 in a 6½-minute struggle for control of the airplane" — and then gave some facts to the fact-deprived.

More from her op-ed:

Members of Congress might have had a frightening day on Jan. 6, but on 9/11 some 200 people in the World Trade Center towers chose to jump from 80 to 100 floors above the ground rather than be consumed by fire. A woman waiting at a lobby elevator bank was burned over 82% of her body when jet fuel from the first plane sent a ball of fire down the elevator shaft and into the lobby. She spent three months in a hospital burn unit and was permanently disfigured.

There are countless harrowing stories like this—of death, destruction and heartbreaking loss. More than 3,000 children lost parents. Eight young children were killed on the planes. Recovery personnel found 19,000 human remains scattered all over lower Manhattan from river to river, including on rooftops and window ledges. Victims' remains were still being recovered years later by utility workers and construction crews. Some families received so many notifications of remains that they couldn't take it any more and asked for them to stop. More than 1,100 families received nothing. Their loved ones went to work that morning and disappeared.

The attack brought down our nationwide aviation system, shut down the New York Stock Exchange for days, destroyed or rendered uninhabitable 16 acres of Lower Manhattan including underground subway and commuter train lines and destroyed a section of the Pentagon. Rebuilding at ground zero is still incomplete, and U.S. troops are still in Afghanistan.

Burlingame then delivered a knockout blow to the gaslighting left: "On Jan. 6, Congress resumed its session that evening."

"It is deeply offensive and sad that the brutal and harrowing memories of the worst terrorist attack in American history are being deployed by political partisans," she added. "They are using 9/11 not as an example of what the American people endured and overcame together, but explicitly to divide, to stoke hatred, and to further a political agenda aimed at stigmatizing the other party and marginalizing ordinary Americans from participating in the political process. That is the real threat to democracy."

Anything else?

If that isn't refreshing enough to digest, Burlingame offered that there have been "real terrorist attacks on the Capitol. But those must be forgotten because they came from the political left." With that, she reminded us of the Weather Underground bombings of the Senate, Pentagon, and State Department in a four-year span in the early 1970s.

Here's a quick look at the unforgettable images of the Pentagon after hijacked flight 77 slammed into its side on 9/11:

AS IT HAPPENED - The 9/11 Pentagon Attackyoutu.be

(H/T: Daily Caller)

'Liberal f***s!': Southwest pilot goes on profanity-laced hot mic tirade against Bay Area



A Southwest Airlines pilot might be in some trouble after being recorded over an air traffic control scanner as he unleashed his fury on the San Francisco Bay Area while taxiing on a local runway, referring to the residents as "liberal f***s" and "f***ing weirdos."

What are the details?

"F*** this place, goddamn liberal f***s," the unidentified pilot says, according to the dictation of the San Francisco Gate.

He adds, "F***ing weirdos, probably driving around in f***ing Hyundais, f***ing roads and s*** that go slow as f***" and, "You don't have balls unless you're f***ing rolling coal, man, goddamn it."

The Daily Mail suggested the last comment was "presumably comparing electric-powered cars to traditional gas-powered ones."

The March 12 tirade at Mineta San Jose International Airport was first reported by OneMileAtaTime.com, and is archived at LiveATC.net.

A spokesperson for the airport said of the audio, "This communication is very unprofessional, and I have forwarded the communication to the FAA."

The FAA is now involved, issuing a statement saying that they are "investigating communications that an airline pilot made while taxiing at Mineta San Jose International Airport," noting that "the FAA also reported the incident to the airline."

The Gate discovered that the airline in question is Southwest, and the company confirmed that it was one of their pilots caught on the hot mic.

"Our corporate Culture is built on a tenet of treating others with concern and dignity and the comments are inconsistent with the professional behavior and overall respect that we require from our Employees," a Southwest spokesman told the newspaper in a statement. "This situation was an isolated incident involving a single Employee and not representative of the nearly 60,000 hardworking, respectful People of Southwest Airlines."

Anything else?

The San Francisco Bay Area is, indeed, known for being liberal.

The Mail pointed out that a "March 2014 report by political scientists Chris Tausanovitch and Christopher Warshaw titled 'Representation in Municipal Government' ranks San Francisco as the most liberal city of at least 250,000 people in the United States, based on public policy preferences," and "Oakland, another city in the Bay Area, ranks fourth in the same report."

The city of San Francisco's mayor and entire Board of Supervisors are Democrats. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) owns a home in the city, and until just weeks ago, so did Vice President Kamala Harris.