FBI: Airline passenger restrained with duct tape

[Tab]

Source: AP

RALEIGH, N.C. – An airline crew used duct tape to keep a passenger in her seat because they say she became unruly, fighting flight attendants and grabbing other passengers, forcing the flight to land in North Carolina.

Maria Esther Castillo of Oswego, N.Y., is due in court Thursday, charged with resisting arrest and interfering with the operations of a flight crew aboard United Airlines Flight 645, from Puerto Rico to Chicago.

Castillo, 45, struck a flight attendant on the buttocks with the back of her hand during Saturday's flight, FBI Special Agent Peter Carricato said in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Charlotte. She also stood and fell onto the head of a blind passenger and later started pulling the person's hair, the complaint stated.

Ankle cuffs kept slipping off Castillo, so the flight crew and two passengers were forced to use duct tape to keep her in her seat, the complaint states.

She calmed as the pilot diverted the flight to Charlotte-Douglass International Airport, but became disruptive again when authorities boarded the plane to remove her, authorities said.

Carricato states that a passenger saw Castillo having drinks in an airport bar before boarding. She bought another drink on the plane. Flight attendants stopped serving her alcohol because of her behavior, the complaint states.

United spokesman Jeff Kovick said Wednesday that safety is the company's top priority and that it's cooperating with authorities.

FBI spokeswoman Amy Thoreson on Wednesday declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.

A message left seeking comment wasn't immediately returned by Castillo's attorney, Julia Mimms.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081106/ap_on_re_us/odd_passenger_duct_tape

[Lerkfish]

1. my wife is a former flight attendant, the saying goes: one in the air is three on the ground.

meaning because of the difference in cabin pressure, one alcohol drink has DOUBLE or TRIPLE the effect as it would on the ground.

That's why if someone is already unruly and has been drinking, they cut that person off.

[Marrah_G]

2. Sounds like an episode of "Airline"

The drunks always crack me up.

[NC_Nurse]

3. Is graywarrior a flight attendant?

Sounds like the duck.

[yellowcanine]

4. Good argument for banning sales of alcohol on airline flights.

[WriteDown]

5. Blasphemy!!!!! nt.

[customerserviceguy]

6. So, because of one unruly idiot

the rest of us have to be treated like babies?

She had the drinks on the ground. And it wouldn't be totally impossible for some idiot like that to bring three ounces of 151 proof rum in a shampoo bottle that was easily accessible during the flight to spike a cola. You've never be able to stop someone who is determined to get a buzz until they were acting like a damned fool.

Again, the principle of the thing is that airline flights have become degrading experiences, full of mistreatment by TSA thugs, uncaring airline personnel, squalling seat-kickers, and just plain delays that are out of human control. A little anesthesia for those of us who have to endure these things is just mercy.

Hope they revoke the ability of this turkey to ever fly again. It's a privilege, not a right.

[LatteLibertine]

7. Hmm

Does McCain have a sister?

[drmeow]

14. degrading flying

"Again, the principle of the thing is that airline flights have become degrading experiences, full of mistreatment by TSA thugs, uncaring airline personnel, squalling seat-kickers, and just plain delays that are out of human control. A little anesthesia for those of us who have to endure these things is just mercy."

How true - I was just commenting on this the other day. When I was a kid, I probably flew more than the average kid did at that time including flying half way across the world with my siblings unaccompanied by my parents (we were 11, 10, and 7) at a time when very few kids did that (1974). I loved flying so much that I seriously considered becoming a stewardess (they weren't flight attendants then) until I discovered that I was too short for all but two airlines, both non-American airlines (one was Japan Air, I don't remember the other). I continued to love flying through about the mid 90's or so. Now I absolutely hate it. In addition to the awful stuff listed above, passengers are crammed into planes like sardines to the point where if there was an accident that didn't kill all the passengers immediately but required people to get out of the plane quickly, I don't think people could get out in time.

Airline travel is another example of how the fake free market doesn't work. Simply having competition between airlines is not sufficient (and, as airlines merge, you get even less of that). You also need alternatives to flying. Where is our high speed rail? In Spain you can take a bullet train from Madrid to Barcelona (a little more than the distance from LA to Phoenix) that gets you there in about 2.5 hours - and it is an very pleasant traveling experience. Where are the bullet trains in the US? Yes, high speed rail has been subsidized in Europe ... but so has air travel in the US (you think they airlines paid for all those airports across the country?)!

[Plucketeer]

30. Heh - good argument!

"Where is our high-speed rail?" Those rails are scattered across the sands of Iraq and into the coffers of preferred contractors. That's where ALL of our prospective infrastructure upgrade and maintenance monies are! :grr:

[yellowcanine]

22. "One unruly idiot" threatens the safety of everyone on the plane, so yes.

And yes people get drunk on the ground. But they also get drunk in the air. Flight attendants have more important things to do than playing discerning bartender. I for one would choose to fly on an airline with a "no alcohol" policy.

[customerserviceguy]

39. Flight attendants certainly do have more important things to do

but the average person on an airline is less likely to be a problem than even a patron of an upscale bar.

As for me, I'd like a "non-child" flight. Maybe I'd feel less of a need for a drink when I get off the damn tin can!

[LanternWaste]

27. Much like have a highball on a flight...

"It's a privilege, not a right."

Much like have a highball on a flight, I would imagine...

[customerserviceguy]

40. It is a privilege, indeed

and those who abuse others through their own abuse of alcohol should lose the privilege of purchasing it. Difficult to administer 100%, but technologically feasible.

[JonQ]

9. I'd say drunken idiocy is far more common on the ground

but I don't see anyone advocating a return to prohibition.

One isolated incident does not a trend make.

[yellowcanine]

35. Non sequitor. Anyway, inebriated passengers are not as isolated as you think.

Just happens that this one came to the attention of the flight staff.
I am far more worried about the "quiet" drunks who might be impaired or panic during an air emergency and endanger everyone else on the plane.

[JonQ]

37. Can you list any cases where that happened?

Oh my god we're crashing in to a mountain! We'd be fine if it weren't for that drunk guy back there screaming (unlike everyone else calmly plummeting to their deaths).

[cobalt1999]

12. As some who flys constantly for work...NO!

HELL NO!

Sometimes that wine is the only thing keeping me sane.

[Marrah_G]

13. It's not the alcohol on the flight; It's the BARS in the airport

Long waits, long delays add up to people drinking more then they ought to before getting on a flight. The gate personal can't catch everyone.

[yellowcanine]

21. It's both. Airport bartenders need to show some discretion also.

[dixiegrrrrl]

15. One drink is necesary to wash down the 2 Valium when I fly.

[Demit]

31. LOL! Better living through chemistry, I always say.

[curse of greyface]

17. Good Lord Satan begone... Seriously have you flown with other peoples children? nt

[yellowcanine]

20. Yes and I have been disturbed far more often by "adults". Sorry I do not see any reason why alcohol

needs to be served on airplanes. If a meal is being served and wine or beer is offered with the meal - fine. But no one has a "right" to have alcohol on a plane anymore than it is anyone's right to smoke. I would rather have flight attendants paying attention to the safety and comfort of all the passengers on the plane rather than trying to figure out if someone has had too much to drink.

[frickaline]

23. I think you might find yourself far more disturbed by adults NOT drinking

I would argue that having alcohol on board a man-made craft that travels at 35,000 feet in the air IS a comfort issue. Many people do not enjoy air travel for one reason or another and alcohol makes the experience almost tolerable. I think you might find that the one glass renders most drinkers relaxed and if lucky, asleep for most of the flight instead of having a death grip on the armrest that separates you and hyperventilating for 3 solid hours.

[curse of greyface]

25. I don't drink myself. and I rarely fly anymore so I don't have a dog in this fight.

But I believe that adults should be allowed adult beverages. Some people really do need a stiff one to help overcome the fear of flying (Or that kicking 4 year old in the seat behind them.)

I always hate the idea of prohibition because a few numskulls can't control themselves.

[yellowcanine]

28. Those "numskulls" endanger ME so I do have a dog in the fight. By the time it is realised that

someone has had to much to drink it may be too late to put them off the flight. There are safer medications that fearful passengers can take if flight anxiety is an issue. What you propose is that we allow any adult to self medicate with alcohol. I don't think that is fair to the other passengers - I am perfectly willing to give up my occasional beer for a policy which guarantees a safer flying experience. (Somehow a kid kicking the back of a seat does not seem to be on the same level as the possible endangerment of a whole planeload of passengers and flight staff).

[curse of greyface]

29. Yes I do support Adult rights. The key word is Adult. nt

[yellowcanine]

34. No one has the "right" to have an alcoholic beverage anywhere or anytime they desire.

[Nihil]

32. Panic reaction much?

> Those "numskulls" endanger ME

> possible endangerment of a whole planeload of passengers and flight staff

:eyes:

She was drunk. She was abusive to the cabin staff. She fully deserves to be
duct-taped, arrested and (hopefully) banned from flying but there was no
"endangerment" so quit with the panic-mongering.

You sound *exactly* like the people who were also "perfectly willing to
give up" their personal freedoms for the BushCo bullshit about the TSA Gestapo
that was supposed to "guarantee a safer flying experience" too ...

[yellowcanine]

33. And suppose a drunk person tries to open an emergency exit before the flight staff can get to them?

Furthermore, I don't want flight staff distracted trying to subdue a drunk passenger or arguing with passengers about whether they are too drunk to have another drink. Drinking on a plane is not a right.

[Nihil]

36. And suppose a sober person tries to open an emergency exit before the flight staff can get to them?

Newsflash: People don't have to be drunk to be suicidal.

:eyes:

If you are that worried about the safest form of transport,
you really should stop flying as it isn't doing your health
any good to constantly be in a state of panic about your
fellow travellers.

I know: Don't let ANYONE fly - that way no-one (drunk or sober)
will be killed in a plane crash! Woohoo! I've just saved you
a whole bunch of intermediate steps Mr Safety-Nanny!

[SouthernVoter]

38. Absolutely Impossible

Will never happen. There are reasons airplane doors open the way they do, and mid-flight opening (without some major structural failure) is one of them.

Do the math, you'll see.

[OswegoAtheist]

8. *sigh* Way to represent, dummy!

It's never, "Oswego, NY resident cures cancer" or "Oswego, NY resident creates clean biofuel out of air" it's always "Oswego, NY resident does stupid thing."

Oswego ":banghead:" Atheist

[Haole Girl]

19. Things could be worse

You could live in Texas.

[Ian David]

10. Duct Tape fixes everything but a broken heart. n/t

[Ian David]

11. I checked OpenSecrets... no donations. Expected to find donations to McCain. n/t

[Turbineguy]

16. This may be one of those situations

where cutting off alcohol does more harm than good. The key is a quick transition into stupor with some plastic sheeting and a barf-bag strategically placed.

[Haole Girl]

18. People never cease to amaze me. (nt)

[Fumesucker]

24. And yet, when someone does something truly stupid..

And it's not known for sure that they were consuming alcohol, illegal drugs almost always get mentioned and alcohol rarely does.. Usually meth or crack, but "what were they smoking" is extremely common too.

[Kalifornia.Kid]

26. Maria Esther Castillo, 45, of Oswego, N.Y.

Source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/244/story/299005.html