Weekly Weird: Flight Club … or Fight Club?

It must really stink to hate your co-worker—and have your shared “office” be a tiny cockpit that you can’t leave. The Daily Mail reports that two Qantas pilots allegedly got in a fight over take-off calculations, and their argument caused the flight to be delayed until the next day. Two replacement pilots had to be called in to fly, and the flight ended up arriving 18 hours late.

Another flight also had some trouble aboard this week—an American Eagle flight was delayed after a passenger locked himself in the cockpit for several hours. The Huffington Post reports that Andrew Alessi, a ticketed passenger on a flight from Baton Rouge to Dallas/Fort Worth, allegedly pushed past crew-members and locked himself in the plane’s cockpit, where he remained for hours until the police and FBI convinced him to come out. Workers cut power to the plane, so Alessi couldn’t start the plane.

After the above stories, we can sort of understand why Joe Thompson doesn’t want to get on a plane again. CNN reports that an 11-year old British boy, Joe Thompson, developed a paralyzing fear of flying, and is now stranded in Abu Dhabi. Thompson’s family is moving back to the United Kingdom from the United Arab Emirates, but Thompson, who has been flying since he was a baby, finds himself unable to get on a plane without suffering massive panic attacks. The boy and his father are now planning on taking a land route, followed by a boat.

Finally, think carefully about what message your outfit sends, before you don it for a flight—especially if that message includes the words “terrorists” and “bombs.” The website care2.com reports that Arijit Guha was allegedly kicked off a Delta flight from Buffalo to Phoenix because he was wearing a satiric t-shirt with the TSA’s logo on it, surrounded by images of shoes, liquids, and the phrases “Bombs Zomg” and “Zomg Terrorists.” After a Delta supervisor told Guha that his shirt was making other passengers and employees uncomfortable, Guha offered to change, but was told that the pilot didn’t want him aboard. Guha had to take another flight the next day.

Did you see anything weird on your travels this week? Tell us in the comments!

(Photo: Cockpit and Two Pilots via Shutterstock)