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Newsday reports that an autopsy was found to be inconclusive as to why a man died on a flight from LA to NYC's JFK Airport. The man, 48 year-old William Lee, had been "forcibly restrained" after he angrily demanded a beer. American Airlines said Lee had ordered two beers and a vodka already, and Lee shouted at the attendants to be served immediately. When he was told he would not be served, he demanded to speak to "someone in charge," and alternated between calming down and getting angry again. It was when Lee shoved an attendant out of his way that seven male passengers ("possibly members of a rugby team from Australia or New Zealand") knocked him down to restrain him. When they landed in NYC to bring Lee to the police, they found he was unconscious and later died in a hospital.
This brings up the new social contract on airplanes that most everyone is aware of: You don't rock the boat or else you get rocked yourself. As satirized mere interrogations of flight attendants have been in Anger Management, Gothamist has to say the most powerful threats made by an airline were the words "If you get up during this 90 minute flight, we're turning this plane around." Of course that can't work for longer flights, but some sort of similar implication could be possible.
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Sounds exactly like an episode that appeared a while back on CSI... a disruptive male airline passenger who appears drunk or drugged and out of control is stomped to death by fellow onboard travelers... unfortunately for that guy, it wasn't the boozey behavior that got him killed, it was the brain seizure he was suffering... but more importantly, where was the special FAA agent on this la-nyc flight chock full of fuel?
Orientals don't handle liquor very well, especially when they include the hard stuff. It's in the metabolism.
Lisa, that is exactly what I thought. It's this episode, Unfriendly Skies.
Scazza: Ohmygosh, I just clicked on your link to the episode and was amazed to see the airdate (12/8/2000). I can't believe it first aired 4 1/2 years ago and I still remember it... and further, that it aired on my birthday (evidently, I was watching TV to celebrate... LOL)
Hong: What leads you to believe Mr. Lee is of Asian extraction? Have you seen a photo of him on TV? Lee is a common name for Caucasions, as well.
article says this was a big fella. 2 beers and one airline sized small plastic cup drink doesn't sound like enough to send a guy into a dangerous state, even if he is a lightweight. i think you have to bang someone up pretty hard to knock them out and they die. people seem to get carried away by some self important idea of being a vigilante.
Seriously, where was the federal air marshall on this?
Sure, you don't want the guy blowing his cover without good reason. But you'd think a dude catching a beat down from an angry mob is about as opportune a time as any for the air marshall to step in, right? Or maybe he did step in but couldn't subdue the mob - now, that's reassuring.
what if an air marshall wasn't on board this transcontinental flight at all...again, not reassuring... and since i fly nyc-la-nyc quite a bit, i may just reconsider my travel options... anyone driving to los angeles next month?
Can Gothamist please take some responsibility for what it publishes? Did he die on the flight or not? In two short paragraphs it is written both ways: "why a man died on a flight" and "they found he was unconscious and later died in a hospital."
This is absurd.