Comments on: Montezuma’s Revenge lands man in jail

By: mark roberts

mark roberts — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 05:29:16 +0000

Mr. Correa lives across the street from my home in Concord, Ohio.
My family and his are very good friends, our daughters are best friends. Futher more the Correa’s are a solid Christian family and solid members of their community.
I’ve never seen Joao do or say anything that resembles the comments from the Flight Attendant.
I hope that common sense prevails and Delta is able to find some manners and respect for the travellers they serve.

By: MichaelM

MichaelM — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 02:46:48 +0000

The story above says that Stewardess “Scott called the pilot who talked to Correa. The pilot let Correa use the bathroom in business class.”

The captain of the aircraft is the final authority while in flight. If he gave his permission, that should have ended the matter.

Once on the ground, there was no reason for the incident to be mentioned again, except for spiteful purposes. Aircraft crews take a lot of abuse from passengers, but this time, it seems that Scott abused her position.

As for the passenger, hasn’t he already been punished enough? First by the likely humiliation and second by the days in jail.

As a nation of basically decent people, how much more damage do we want to do to ourselves in the name of preventing terrorism?

By: Bela Fleck

Bela Fleck — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 21:49:05 +0000

It depends on how big the guy is. I’m sure he was looking for the quickest way to the restroom. There’s no way a seriously overweight person with a bathroom emergency could get past a beverage cart without losing it. He should have just put on his best distressed face and explained his situation as quickly as possible. Some of these airline employees, however (and notice, I say SOME), have no compassion for “the enemy.”

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 07:37:18 +0000

Sounds to me like this whole situation could have been avoided. When people travel, their systems often react and they can get Montezuma’s revenge. And quite honestly, it is an awkward thing to discuss, but flight crews need to understand that sometimes, when you gotta go, you gotta go. I’ve seen people “let by” a cart on numerous occasions. I understand how they enforce the rule about the business class bathrooms, but letting someone past a beverage cart is pretty routine.

By: Father Goose

Father Goose — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:09:55 +0000

You know there had to be more witnesses that “a pilot from another airline”. If that is all the FBI has as witnesses, they are only trying to support the FA side of the story instead of getting all of the facts.

The pilot is going to backup the FA. He/She would not want word to get back that he backed up a passenger over flight crew member, even if it was not his crew. That is like asking a cop if another cops actions were out of line. Their answer will be of course not.

Just my opinion.

By: Hapgood

Hapgood — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:43:23 +0000

Without knowing the full story….

Correa is guilty of assault. But the airline is guilty of creating a situation where a desperate man turns to assault. Correa will be punished, and the prosecutors will have an opportunity to crow loudly about the effectiveness of new laws that “protect aviation.” The airline will bear no responsibility.

By: Frank

Frank — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 03:51:08 +0000

According to Correa, flight attendant Stephanie Scott “put up her arm and blocked his entry into business class, according to an FBI affidavit. Correa then grabbed her arm to keep his balance.”
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When have anyone of you onboard, grabbed a flight attendant to keep your balance?
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However, Scott’s statement and corroboration from a witness who was a pilot for another airline gave the FBI probable cause to charge Correa with assault.
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Seen any articles from any witnesses onboard this flight, defending Mr Correa’s actions?

By: Allison

Allison — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:58:42 +0000

Unbelievable. I would have done the same thing as Mr Correa, although maybe I would have loudly told the flight attendant in business class I was about to shit all over her. Would that be considered a threat?

By: John M

John M — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:55:48 +0000

Given that the aisle was blocked and that wasn’t going to change quickly, I think that it would be reasonable to allow a passenger in distress to use the lav in business class.

Having said that, there is no excuse for a passenger to grab the arm of any member of the flight crew and twist it, just because he or she said no and then blocked the aisle.

A little better communication between the passenger and the FA and a little compassion and I think this whole mess could have been avoided.

By: Amy

Amy — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:42:40 +0000

Really, we were talking about a BATHROOM. This guy was not storming the cock pit, he was not trying to get a celebrity autograph from a business class passenger. This was a moment where a judgement call by the flight attendant to let a man use another bathroom because the drink cart was blocking access to his would have been appropriate. The fact that it escalated, IMO, is the fault of the flight attendant. It wasn’t a safety issue, it was a human function thing.