“Passengers and the flight crew all say during a Southwest flight from Las Vegas Tuesday night, Russell Miller punched a 15-year-old teenager after he refused to turn off his cell phone, an iPhone,” Michael Calcagno reports for KBOI-TV. “Police say the teen was playing games and listening to music when the flight attendants announced their final approach to land and all powered devices needed to be turned off. When the teenager didn’t respond to the intercom request, witnesses say the man got angry and then during the in-flight fight ultimately punched the teenager in the arm.”
“Lt. Kent Lipple tells KBOI-TV 2 News after the argument the pilots radioed the air traffic control tower and requested airport and local police to be ready at the gate,” Calcagno reports. “‘He punched him so hard there was a mark on the teen’s arm,’ Lipple said. ‘That gave us probable cause to believe the reports from the other passengers.'”
Calcagno reports, “Miller was charged with one count of misdemeanor battery and booked into the Ada County [Idaho] jail.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Angry bird.
The kid deserved it.
probably got a ‘roid for Christmas
I don’t fly anymore so I guess I don’t understand why you have to turn off electronics.
Phone, yes.
But you can’t allow kids to play games during the most intense part of the flight?
Little punk deserved more than a punch in the arm.
The punk-ass kid deserved it. More asswhoppings all around!
@MDN
Some of your terser takes are also the better ones. Great one, this. Like.
The kid probably had the setting on airplane mode and the man didn’t know about that.
@KillBill,
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You mean steroids, right?
iPhone on airplane mode is fine. Aircrews request that devices get turned off to make sure no cell phones are broadcasting but there is no problem with an iPhone on airplane mode.
@Kelly McNeill
What part of “…all powered devices needed to be turned off.”
did you not understand?
You go Kelly. It is not the place of a 15yo to countermand or second guess the orders of the FAA and the plane’s pilot at the most critical stage of a flight involving 100s of other people’s welfare. Airplane Mode; Airplane Schmode. He’s a punk disobeying orders. He’s got the makings of a bad american. As they say, the nut doesn’t fall from the tree. Says loads about his parents, too.
“What part of “…all powered devices needed to be turned off.”
did you not understand”
Which is a stupid regulation. I never have to do that when flying abroad, only when landing in the US. It makes no sense.
Young guy entitlement issues collides with old guy anger control issues. Hilarity ensues.
Regarding the rules, it is their airplane. If they want all devices turned off, then either turn them off or get off the freaking plane.
Well done to the guy for punching him although the stewards need to be fired for not ensuring the safety of the aircraft correctly. It greatly annoys me that kids think they can just flout authority these days.
Hope that nasty old f**k gets thrown in guantanamo. Good fir the kid to stick up for himself. And as for the FAA, I wouldn’t trust them to watch a pay toilet
I never turn off my iPhone during flights! Does that really make me a bad American Doug B, you dick? I always use airplane mode however, which is more than what most cellphone users do. Airplane mode turns off all wireless communications.
This story is spreading fast in my neck of the woods and have been getting “Didja hear about…?!” Everyone’s response locally has been resoundingly cheering on the guy who punched that insubordinate twerp with some version of, “The punk had it coming!”
I agree with @Think. And there is inconsistency within the US. On one leg of a flight, on the same airline, they were brutal about enforcement. On the next leg, there was nothing even said. I had my iPad on and was reading as the final check was made. The weird thing though was when the plane decelerated on landing, the G-forces caused the position sensor to flip over the view on the screen.
OMG BFD RFLMA – A mark on his arm. Good lord that must have smarted and damaged this punk for life. We are becoming a nation of wimps. Maybe next time the kid will listen to the announcement, assuming he heard it. Otherwise the other guy should be slapped on the wrist and put in a corner.
Why, yes, J Bone. That DOES make you a bad american.
Airplane mode is not enough anymore. They want everything off and not in use at all. Could vary by airline or captain but that’s what they said on my most recent flight.
We all know too many teens don’t know how to behave in public, and many have a “don’t tell me what to do” attitude. The teen should have been detained for failure to follow flight crew instructions. Besides, in an era when some are intent in setting off explosives in their shoes or undies (and we praise passengers for stopping them), maybe his fellow passenger suspected he was up to no good.
wasn’t flying Jet Blue, otherwise, instead of a passenger going off punching him in the arm, the jerk ass teen might have had his head handed to him by the flight attendant who then, the flight attendant would have bounced off the walls of the plane, cussed out the non-fit parents, as well as, the other passengers, opened the plane door, deploy the emergency chute and slide down to freedom! Woo Hoo!!
The issue isn’t whether or not the teen had the iPhone in Airplane mode or not – the issue is during take off and landings the passengers may need to respond to flight attendants instructions. If the teen was listening to music or playing games, he *may* endanger himself or others through his inattention.
If you can’t put it down for a few minutes, you have other issues that need attention.
Funny how no airplanes have ever been brought down due to an errant cell phone or computer being left on. I travel extensively on company charter’s where cell phones, laptos, etc. are rarely ever turned off and am here today to write about it. Seems to me that at least one person fails to turn off a cell phone or computer per flight which means a plane should be falling out of the sky on a pretty routine basis given the thousands of flights each day. I have seen people talking on cell phones before during and after take without any hazard to plane or passengers. If leaving an electronic device on was so dangerous I am sure the FAA would have already banned the use entirely. Perhaps someone can tell me what all the fuss is about?