Southwest Airlines flight attendant kicks a passenger off the airplane after he 'joked that the water she was handing out should be vodka'

  • A passenger aboard a Southwest Airlines flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles got kicked off the airplane when a flight attendant didn't like a joke
  • The passenger quipped that water being handed out 'should be vodka'
  • The flight attendant said the joke wasn't funny and called for Sheriff's deputies
  • The man was escorted off the aircraft, but not charged with a crime in the matter
  • The incident occurred after everyone had been stuck on the plane for hours after a maintenance light caused a delay as the flight prepared for takeoff 

A Southwest Airlines passenger was escorted off of a plane by Sheriff's deputies for joking that water being handed out should be vodka after a lengthy delay on the tarmac in San Francisco.

Onlooker Peter Uzelac said everyone had been stuck on the plane for hours due to a maintenance light that came on while the plane was preparing for takeoff, and that the flight attendant overreacted, in an interview with Fox News.

Uzelac said the passenger who was removed did nothing wrong, and that the flight attendant got confrontational with both the passenger and his wife, prompting him to file a report with the airline.  

'I have been flying for decades and I’ve never ever seen anything like this,' Uzelac said.

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A Southwest Airlines passenger was escorted off of a plane in San Francisco on Wednesday for joking that water being handed out should be vodka after a lengthy delay on its way to Los Angeles

A Southwest Airlines passenger was escorted off of a plane in San Francisco on Wednesday for joking that water being handed out should be vodka after a lengthy delay on its way to Los Angeles

Fellow passenger Peter Uzelac said that the passenger who was removed did nothing wrong, and that the flight attendant got confrontational with both the passenger and his wife, prompting him to file a report with the airline

Fellow passenger Peter Uzelac said that the passenger who was removed did nothing wrong, and that the flight attendant got confrontational with both the passenger and his wife, prompting him to file a report with the airline

In a statement on Wednesday, Southwest Airlines said: 'We regret any less-than-positive experience a customer has onboard our aircraft. We welcome over 100 million customers each year, and we aim to maintain the comfort of all while delivering Southwest hospitality. 

'We will share this report with our Customer Relations Team.' 

Uzelac said the incident occurred on a flight from San Francisco International Airport (SMH) to Los Angeles (LAX) on Wednesday.

Uzelac was heading to Austin, Texas through LAX, when a maintenance light came on while the plane was preparing to take off from San Francisco.

The delay lasted multiple hours, Uzelac said, resulting in the plane needing to refuel before it could take off.

As a flight attendant passed out water to the passengers who had been stranded on the tarmac for hours, Uzelac said another passenger made a joke that the crew member did not find funny. 

'He said something [like] "They should be passing out vodka because we’ve been waiting so long,"' Uzelac said.

He added that the young flight attendant was not impressed with the humor.

'She came by and was like, "I don’t think that, and I didn’t like your joke,"' he said.

'Then my wife tried to butt-in there and say, "Look it, we’ve been on this plane for hours." And she says, "Well so have I so get used to it."'

As a flight attendant passed out water to the passengers who had been stranded on the tarmac for hours, Uzelac said another passenger made a joke that the crew member did not find funny. 'He said something [like] "They should be passing out vodka because we¿ve been waiting so long,"' Uzelac said

As a flight attendant passed out water to the passengers who had been stranded on the tarmac for hours, Uzelac said another passenger made a joke that the crew member did not find funny. 'He said something [like] "They should be passing out vodka because we’ve been waiting so long,"' Uzelac said

The next thing Uzelac noticed was that the flight attendant on the telephone at the front of the passenger cabin and the plane was heading back toward the gate.

Once at the gate, he said several Sacramento County Sheriff deputies boarded and told the man he needed to deplane. 

'And people started yelling then. In fact, people stood up. I stood up. People were saying, "This man didn’t do anything,"' Uzelac said.

The man was not charged with a crime, the Sheriff's department said, but he was removed from the flight. 

Uzelac said he was shocked by the flight attendant's actions, prompting him to file a complaint with Southwest Airlines.  

'If they have this in their records you know maybe it will prevent this from happening again,' he said.

The next thing Uzelac noticed was that the flight attendant on the telephone at the front of the passenger cabin and the plane was heading back toward the gate. Once at the gate, he said several Sacramento County Sheriff deputies boarded and told the man he needed to deplane. The man was not charged with a crime, the Sheriff's department said, but he was removed from the flight

The next thing Uzelac noticed was that the flight attendant on the telephone at the front of the passenger cabin and the plane was heading back toward the gate. Once at the gate, he said several Sacramento County Sheriff deputies boarded and told the man he needed to deplane. The man was not charged with a crime, the Sheriff's department said, but he was removed from the flight

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