While crappy weather snarled air travel in a good chunk of the U.S. this past week, it sounds like you'd be hard-pressed to find a group of passengers who went through more misery than some Pensacola to Miami flyers who had their flight diverted thanks to a woman who was an (alleged) giant pain in the ass.
According to NBC News, a Florida woman was arrested because she decided to fake a medical issue so she could sit in a bigger seat. This woman, whose identity remains a secret for the moment, made the claim by stating that she was having trouble breathing on a Friday morning flight that was set to shuffle travelers from one side of the Sunshine State to the other.
After making this claim, the pilot declared an emergency and decided to bring the flight back to Pensacola. Crews onboard also called authorities to that city's International Airport, though the woman reportedly admitted that she concocted the medical issue to get a bigger seat.
Initially she refused to get off the plane which caused it to be completely evacuated. Eventually authorities and the pilot convinced her to exit.
Under Florida's Baker Act, which can be used by authorities to detain individuals they think may be a threat to themselves or others, she was taken into protective custody.
All of this led to an overall delay that lasted nearly two hours, according to a statement given by American Airlines to NBC News. As they put it:
"American Eagle 3508 returned to Pensacola due to a passenger who requested medical assistance. The flight took off at 5:43 a.m. and landed back at Pensacola at 6:26 a.m. and taxied to the gate. All [passengers] deplaned normally at the gate through the main boarding door and onto the jet bridge. The passenger was subsequently removed by law enforcement and medical personnel, and the flight took off again at 7:41 a.m."
No injuries were reported. And also, though no criminal charges have been filed yet, that remains a possibility.
