Man Attempts Daring Escape During Long Flight Delay at JFK

Robert McDonald, a 60-year-old Scottish man, faces a year in prison after acting out every delayed passenger's fantasy aboard a grounded Delta flight Sunday night. The plane had been stalled on the taxiway for two and a half hours due to inclement weather (after a layover between Edinburgh and Vegas), and it seems all that waiting put the zap on old McDonald's head. At some point around 7:45 p.m., he snapped and allegedly tried to make a break for it by popping open the emergency exit!

That kind of bad-ass behavior may fly in the Highlands, but not here in the US of A, Mr. Robbie McDonald. (Here we grind our teeth and file lawsuits when Delta screws us over.) The flight crew managed to subdue McDonald before he could activate the emergency chute and slide down to freedom on the JFK runways. His wife was with him too, and one can imagine the couple living happily as fugitives in the wilds of Jamaica Bay. But it was not to be; Port Authority police took him into custody, and he's charged with second-degree reckless endangerment and second degree criminal tampering.

The charges [pdf] could get McDonald up to a year in jail if convicted. Lucky for him, he landed judge Mary O’Donohue, who released him on his own recognizance. Meanwhile, the plane was taken out of service, the passengers were booked on the next flight, and Delta may have to replace the plane’s emergency chute (which must not be Scottish).

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By John Del Signore in News on March 31, 2009 10:10 AM

Comments [rss]

MrCow

at least he tried...

aed

Now I have TWO heros - this guy (I've always thought I'd do the same thing if held hostage on a tarmac by an airline) and the man who threw his shoes at Bush.

Past Taliban

Good for the Scottie! Americans usually just take it up the azz without complaints.

Now he can sue the airline for KIDNAPPING and/or ILLEGAL DETENTION since they held him against his will for a full 2.5 hours. People pay airlines TO TRANSPORT THEM not to hold them hostage indefinitely while the plane sits idly on the runway.

aydiosmio

Where's that passenger's bill of rights that prevents this kind of lunacy?

If you're stuck in a tube for more than an hour, it better be an emergency.

Atomische

I wonder what would happen if one called 911 and said "I'm being held against my will." ?

Asphyxia8

I've often wondered this myself. Altheaux I suppose the law addresses it (in the airline's favor, no doubt). I guess the only legitimate way to get off the plane would be to fake an emergency, like a heart attack or panic attack. I hope I never have to test this theory myself, but after 2-3 hours of just sitting there, I would surely be tempted.

Felix Hoenikker

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE (more wasted hour on the tarmac)!

chuzzlewit

....who wants to sit on the runway forevahhhhh....

matukonyc

Lucky for him, he landed judge Mary O’Donohue, who released him on his own recognizance.

"O'Donohue" is an Irish name, not a Scottish name.

John Del Signore

Well, fwiw there is an O'Donohue in The Scottish Register of Tartans. I do know it's typically an Irish name, but this was meant as an obviously absurd aside. Though I knew it was only a matter of time before someone jumped into with the trivial pedantry.

dbc

I don't agree with your characterization of matukonyc's comment as "trivial pendantry". You opened up this can of worms yourself by implying that Mr. McDonald got off easy at his arraignment--an ROR seems proper in this instance, and the fact that he was assigned a judge with an Irish surname is simply coincidental.

Comic Book Guy

Uh, I think that italicization of O'Donohue was meant, you know, in jest. This is a blog, not CNN.com.

NannyState

Not so fast, it's that Scotch-Irish combination that has had America under its iron grip for the better part of of the last 150 years. This is why we have to put up with country music and why tourists from the Midwest describe NYC as "FAN-tastic". It's serious journalism to bring to light this latest incarnation of their plot to dominate our lives FOREVER!

RevWaldo

He shoulda taken the cue from that one "L.A. Law" episode. The bald lawyer is stuck on a plane for over four hours. After being threatened by the pilot when he tries to leave, he then borrows his lady seatmate's new-fangled cellular phone and gets a court order to have the plane brought back to the terminal. He gets arrested by the feds when he exits the plane (obstruction, using a cellphone on a plane, etc.) the judge at arraignment dismisses the case outright, he gets hailed as a hero by the press, and gets asked out by the woman be borrowed the phone from.

Yeah, that was a good episode.