Passenger's Smoking Forces JFK-To-LAX Flight To N.M.

Don Draper: Smokes On A Plane

Sigh. When will airline passengers with nicotine addictions realize that smoking on a plane causes problems? Yesterday, American Airlines Flight 117 from JFK Airport, bound for Los Angeles, was diverted to New Mexico allegedly because a passenger was smoking in a bathroom.

According to My Fox LA, "The passenger who smoked was taken off the plane for questioning in Albuquerque, then all the other passengers were taken off while FBI agents and bomb-sniffing dogs searched the plane... Flight 117 arrived at Los Angeles International Airport around 11 p.m. last night. It had been scheduled to arrive at 5:20 p.m." There were over 160 passengers on the flight.

Earlier this year, a Qatari diplomat was smoking in the bathroom of a United flight. And this week, there was an emergency landing at SFO because a passenger lit a napkin on fire.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on August 5, 2010 12:30 PM

Comments [rss]

bonu$baby

Can you please print his name so I can get angry at his whole ethnic group? Thanks.

John L

lol, that's the funniest comment I read all day!

ointment

Welcome to pansy-ass America. A cigarette! Big F-ing deal! Any of you whining babies old enough to remember when smoking was normal on airliners? Any of you old enough to remember when Americans weren't afraid of their own shadows? Oh LOOK OUT, a STRANGER is approaching!!!

Grow a pair, ya losers . . .

TheKlaus

You sound really tough. Like really really tough. If I saw you approaching I'd say Look Out, you bet. And articulate! That's a lethal combination my friend. I wish there were more people like you. Do you have a tattoo? What kind of cologne do you wear. I bet you love beating the tar out of the gays and the mexicans, huh? Do you drive an Iroc? Text me. K bye

PKMKII

And if you have asthma: suck it up, princess!

emilydickinson

Obviously the bathroom smoker is a selfish jerk. Still, the reaction seems completely out of proportion with the 'crime'? Diverting an entire flight, bringing in bomb sniffing dogs and a bunch of agents seems ludicrous overkill.

Since 9/11 reason and anything remotely connected with flying have had a major disconnect.

Guest

so someone or some people -- i can only presume -- seriously thought that the burning smell of rather delectable tobacco closely resembles that of a ticking bomb?

i need to get out of this planet!

Serpentor

question: is he on a no fly list now? I doubt it.

what_a_dick

what a dick

Rocknrope

Ah, I was hoping you'd show.

henryhamilton

He should be cited or arrested once the plane reaches it's scheduled destination. Diverting a flight over a cigarette is silly.

Wza

Agreed.

Spirit of 76

I think they should have just dropped him off at the nearest airport on the way. Without stopping or even descending first, of course.

TheKlaus

I think writer/director Adam McKay (The Other Guys) was on that flight....

http://twitter.com/ghostpanther

valeriob

ASSSSSSSHOOOOOOOOOOOOLE.

gossipgirl

Only six hours late? Really, not that bad. I mean, the guy probably really need that cig.

nicemarmot

If my flight got diverted because some nicotine-addicted asshole lit up in the bathroom, I'm not sure who I would be angrier at: the smoker who couldn't wait another hour and was too stupid to bring a patch or gum, or the pilot for diverting over a cigarette.

Wait, never mind, I know exactly who'd I be angrier at. Seriously though, bomb-sniffing dogs? Was that a nicotine-coated bomb?