A pilot has been hailed a “hero” after he took revenge on a woman who sprinted to the front of the plane as soon as it landed, despite the seatbelt sign still being on
A pilot has been praised as a “hero” for his tongue-in-cheek response to an impatient woman who dashed down the aisle to be the first off the aircraft. A fellow traveller recounted on Reddit how the woman leapt from her seat the moment the plane touched down and bolted towards the exit.
Ignoring the illuminated seatbelt sign and the cabin crew’s requests to sit down until the aircraft had come to a complete stop, she made her way to the front. The passenger posted: “The woman in the back unbuckled and darted to the front of the plane to get off first.
READ MORE: Award-winning gut health brand cuts 25% off ‘life changing’ bloating-busting sachet
“She did not make any eye contact and felt that she was special. I’m talking about going from the very last seat on the plane, down the whole row, and past first class, basically standing at the little kitchen thing in the front.
“The seat belt sign was still on and we were still rolling down the runway. The flight crew had asked her to return to her seat until we reached the gate but she was not even responding.”
After the gruelling eight-hour flight, all eyes were on the woman as passengers watched the drama unfold. That’s when the captain decided to address the situation with a bit of humour.
The passenger continued: “Suddenly the captain announced we had a special guest onboard and he would be coming out to greet them after we were settled at the gate,” they added. “The woman stood there awkwardly until we did the whole rolling into the gate thing, and whatever planes do when they land, for about 15 to 20 minutes. Everyone sat there waiting to see what the captain was talking about.
“Eventually, the captain came out and asked the lady to please move back a little to get to his special guest, then a little more, then a little more. He was looking from row to row trying to find a specific person.
“Everyone is watching and looking around to see who it could be.” The pilot continued to guide her back one row at a time until she reached the very rear of the aircraft.
“Finally, as they neared the back of the plane, he asked her to sit for a moment while he fetched the intercom from the rear. He said: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to announce our special guest sitting in seat 42C. Let’s give her a round of applause’.
“The whole plane erupted with laughter and applause. I loved every moment of that.” Reflecting on the pilot’s clever manoeuvre, one user commented: “That pilot is a hero to the people.
Another added: “I was hoping that the special guest was a federal marshal coming onboard to arrest the woman for refusing to follow safety-related commands given by members of the flight crew.”
One passenger contributed: “Sometimes when a plane is late arriving, there are people who have a connecting flight that will be very tight to make.
“They need to disembark quickly to stand any chance at their connection. The best way to handle that is to inform the stewardess and they can make a general announcement.
“Of course, sometimes people ignore that announcement and block the aisle for those people anyway.”