A flight attendant told irate passengers who had waited 3 hours to board the plane and another 40 on the tarmac at La Guardia that they could try and exit the plane "if you have balls." The Post obtained video of this extraordinary, unheard of example of an unpleasant experience on an airplane. American Eagle attendant Jose Serrano can be heard saying, "I don't want to hear anything once we close the door. So. If you have balls, this is your time. Otherwise you're gonna have to fly with Jose."
“I’ve been in five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said 47-year-old veteran and passenger on Monday's flight to Raleigh, Scott Custer. “I’ve been in combat and I’ve never felt anxiety like I did sitting on that plane.” The three-hour delay for the 1:25 p.m. flight was first caused by rain, then after the 40 minute wait on the tarmac, the plane had to refuel, causing another delay. By 6 p.m., "the fuses were getting pretty low," Jon Wurster, Superchunk's drummer (yeah) said.
Passengers said that Serrano told them it was his last flight, so he "didn't care" what he said. Several families refused to fly with him onboard, and Port Authority police were called to investigate, but no arrests were made.
An American Eagle spokesman said that they did not Breathalyze Serrano afterwards after some passengers accused him of being drunk. “He has been with the company for six years and has an exemplary record. And basically, it appears that the situation with the passengers became so intense that he actually began to cry," the spokesman said. Aw.
But this story has a happy ending: the flight was cancelled after 8 p.m. Hooray!
