A business class Hawaiian Airlines passenger got kicked off a plane for what might be a first: ordering crew members to not look at her for the entire 9-hour flight from Sydney, Australia to Honolulu.
The woman, a software company concierge, allegedly issued the strange demand after she herself "stared down" a flight attendant who had accidentally taken away her cocktail too soon. And the ornery mood started even earlier in the flight when attendants accidentally seated her in the economy cabin rather than business class, which caused the passenger to "verbally abuse staff members," according to Yahoo!.
From Yahoo!:
"As a result of these interactions, the cabin crew advised the captain of the accused's behavior. The captain formed the view that the accused's erratic and disorderly behavior presented a risk to the safety of the aircraft".
The captain decided it was best to return the aircraft to the terminal to offload [Daniele] De Matos. Another female cabin crew member approached her to explain what was going on, which you can imagine was not well-received. …
De Santos' time on the plane lasted all of 45 minutes before Hawaiian Airlines airport operations staff came on board to order De Matos off the aircraft. Upon refusal to vacate the plane, they called the airport police for help.
When Australian Federal Police officers came to take De Matos away she was 'belligerent' but eventually walked off the plane of her own accord. De Matos' actions delayed the flight for more than an hour, however, upon debarkation she was arrested and charged.
