An United Airlines pilot dressed in street clothes went to the cabin, took control of the intercom and began ranting. She began discussing her divorce and firing off about the recent election. The passengers were surprised and scared about the incident.
United Airlines Flight 455 was parked at Austin-Bergstom International Airport in Austin and was bound for San Francisco airport, when the incident happened, reports NBC. The pilot appeared to be on a nervous breakdown. The incident happened Saturday evening.
The pilot ranted about politics and her personal life, particularly about her recent divorce. She also said something about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton over the intercom. The pilot also mentioned that she was going to be on Oprah. She was visibly agitated before being overcome by tears.
It quickly went from playful to scary, according to a passenger. At first the pilot seemed friendly, said Randy Reiss, a passenger, but things took an nervous turn when she mentioned out an interracial couple sitting in first class.
Reiss, who tweeted that he felt unsafe and uncomfortable during that point of the rant, proceeded to depart from the plane. Half of the other passengers followed also, said Sylvia Nguessan, another passenger.
Reiss tweeted, "So y'all. I'm shaking right now. I just left my United 455 flight 'cos the captain demonstrated that she was not mentally in a safe space."
Because of the incident, the flight was delayed for more than two hours. United Airlines confirmed that the pilot was removed the airplane. According to Daily Mail Co UK, a spokesperson for United Airlines responded to the incident while the plane was still on the tarmac: "We hold our employees to the highest standards and replaced this pilot with a new one to operate the flight," the statement read in part. "We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience."
