Unruly Passenger on KEF-JFK Flight Restrained & Gagged with Duct Tape…picture and all

by Adam

Talk about crazy! Gothamist reports on a passenger from Icelandair flight 615 from Reykjavik to JFK yesterday who was tied up and gagged with duct tape by fellow passengers and crew members after becoming unruly.  The passenger apparently downed a whole bottle of duty free vodka and started going crazy and spitting on the other passengers. In the end the passenger was somehow not even charged with disrupting a flight…full details below

According to a Port Authority spokesman, an “apparently intoxicated” man who was acting “in a disorderly fashion” was restrained by passengers and crew members on an Icelandair flight from Reykjavik, Iceland to JFK on Thursday afternoon. Icelandic newspaper Morgunbla?i? reports the passenger downed “a whole bottle” of duty free alcohol, and then went “subsequent crazy,” using threatening language and repeatedly spitting on people. Andy Ellwood, who snapped the below photo, has this account of the incident: Passenger drank all of his duty free liquor on the flight from Iceland to JFK yesterday. When he became unruly, (i.e. trying to choke the woman next to him and screaming the plane was going to crash), fellow passengers subdued him and tie him up for the rest of the flight. He was escorted off the flight by police when it landed. The Port Authority spokesman confirmed that the passenger, whose name has not been released, was transported to a local Queens hospital after the flight landed, but local authorities did not feel it warranted charges. They added that these types of incidents happen “once in a while, but not that often.”

Perhaps you can threaten duct taping the next time you have a smelly or annoying passenger next to you

a man wrapped in tape sitting in a chair

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25 comments

Frequent Flyer University January 4, 2013 - 11:14 am

Wow, that is crazy!

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Curtis January 4, 2013 - 11:19 am

Awesome.

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Lynda B January 4, 2013 - 11:20 am

omg, I would have been scared shitless if I had been on that flight. You never know what a nutter going to do…. maybe open the exit door of something…

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ExitDoor January 5, 2013 - 12:51 am

Are you serious?

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Jason January 5, 2013 - 10:53 am

Please stop using this word. It’s so unnecessary. Where is the moderation on these posts?

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adam January 5, 2013 - 11:08 am

@jason – Thanks for bringing to my attention. Comment updated.

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Jonathan January 4, 2013 - 11:22 am

While on the face of it, it’s quite hilarious.

If the plane had crashed it would have been disastrous. It should be illegal to drink Alcohol or serve it on planes.

If there’s a crash you going to need all your wits about you, alcohol does the exact opposite. If there isn’t a crash, a drunk passenger is more likely to cause one, or bring harm to other passengers.

Flights aren’t like boat trips, they last hours at most. If you cant survive a few hours without drinking alcohol then thats ridiculous.

Even banning unsealed alcohol from being sold in duty free would be a good idea a drunk person is really not a good thing to have at an airport.

Or at the very least only allowing alcohol to be consumed that has been served on the plane by the crew, and the crew must know when to stop

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SpecialWan January 8, 2013 - 9:30 am

possibly the most dull comment i’ve ever heard. not drink on a plane? you’re either 12 or 90, either way if i had to sit next to you for a 12 hour flight i’d need restraining

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victor January 4, 2013 - 12:02 pm

Jonathan, so yes, alcohol related commercial plane accidents happen about as frequently as well…never! Let’s ban everything. What is really outrageous is that someone hasn’t banned craziness or ignorance.

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Rick January 4, 2013 - 12:09 pm

One of the most extreme cases I have seen in a while. I feel sorry for the passengers and especially the crew due to such passengers who clearly have no clue where to draw the line.

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Dizzle January 4, 2013 - 12:36 pm

Jonathan, maybe a license to consume alcohol on planes? Only after a thorough background investigation and exhaustive psychiatric exam of course. And a regulatory agent on board each plane who has exclusive access to handle and serve said licensed passengers alcohol. Who themselves hold the sole authority to determine when you’ve “had enough.”

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Andrew January 4, 2013 - 12:41 pm

I thought that spitting on others could be defined as assault and battery in some states. I don’t know how this would apply to international air travel over seas.

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P T January 4, 2013 - 12:58 pm

I think I better add a roll of duct tape to my carry on bag.

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Mikey January 4, 2013 - 2:10 pm

Gagging a drunk with duct tape

sure fire way to suffocate on vomit.

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Stephan January 4, 2013 - 2:25 pm

“Gagging a drunk with duct tape
sure fire way to suffocate on vomit”

Hmmm, that WOULD have been too bad wouldn’t it?

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Mikey January 4, 2013 - 3:42 pm

Sadly,these days the persons family would be inundated with lawyers want to sue all and sundry involved.

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Boris January 4, 2013 - 3:25 pm

There’s a reason why Icelandic people are cool – they’re not hung up about politically correct bullshit and the danger of getting sued by oxygen-stealing idiots.

Banning alcohol on planes because it might prevent you from escaping in the event of a crash? Seriously mate, get a life. If the plane goes down, you ain’t getting out alive…

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ThePointsTraveler January 4, 2013 - 3:36 pm

Duct tape works wonders yet again!

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al January 4, 2013 - 3:53 pm

Sounds like jonathan has had his problems alcohol, keep doing the steps jon, one day at a time!

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Hello world January 4, 2013 - 4:56 pm

I think emergency row passengers should not be served. I didn’t think passengers were able to BYOB. Hmmm. Where were the flight attendants?

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Virgin America Sale $72+ & Southwest 35% Off Any Flight Today Only - Point Me To The Plane January 4, 2013 - 5:58 pm

[…] Unruly Passenger on KEF-JFK Flight Restrained & Gagged with Duct Tape…picture and all […]

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Richard January 4, 2013 - 10:33 pm

They were evn nice enough to leave his tv on for him.

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Mike from Berlin January 4, 2013 - 10:51 pm

Reporting this in this blog is one thing, publishing a photo of an obviously mentally ill person without his permission is another. How would you like to have your picture published on the web without permission?

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VG January 5, 2013 - 8:58 am

This is dangerous. How can you repair the airplane if your duct tape is used up on passenger restraint?

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Plane Weird! Passengers Share Pics of Strangest Things Witnessed During a Flight - Point Me to the Plane November 4, 2017 - 10:54 am

[…] things they’ve encountered while flying. There’s the always famous picture of the unruly passenger on a KEF-JFK flight who was restrained and gagged with duct tape as well as the man who brought 80 birds with him on his flight. We were not allowed to republish […]

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