Original subtitles

(dramatic music)

- Onboard tonight's "fasten your seatbelt".

(sign beeps) (static crackles)

An off duty cop comes to the rescue.

Soldiers carry off a passenger.

- [soldier] everyone in their seat.

- [robert] this woman's outfit causes a problem.

- [lady] y'all are just policed a woman's body.

- [robert] and a twister tears through an airport.

Modern air travel, now, more than ever before,

People are acting up and acting out while traveling.

- If there's no flight, just say there's no flight!

- [robert] it's a melting pot of stress and anxiety.

- [woman 2] I want the manager of the airport here.

- [robert] whether it's strangeness in the air

Or strangers on the ground,

This jet stream of raw emotion is all caught on camera.

- [pilot] enough, you don't put your hands

On my flight attendants.

- I'm robert hays.

I played the reluctant pilot of a doomed flight

In the classic film, "airplane".

But in real life, air travel is just as hair-raising.

- [man] oh. (woman screaming)

- [robert] so buckle up.

We're about to take off.

(intense music)

Tensions can flare easily five miles up in the sky.

In 2021, the faa reported over 1300 incidents

Of unruly behavior aboard planes.

And a lot of those were fights.

Occasionally though, some air travelers are polite enough

To pause their violence

Until after they've de-boarded the plane.

Like these women who broke into a brawl at baggage claim.

- [woman 3] she (beep) me, what's up?

(beep), what's up?

- [robert] the brutal battle,

All being captured on body cams.

- She (beep) tugged me!

(radio drowns speaker)

Tugged me!

- [man 2] hey, make my wife slow down here.

(people shouting)

- Put the knife down. Put the knife down.

- [robert] details are sketchy,

But a witness said it started in the air with the women

Exchanging some verbal unpleasantries.

Though things didn't get physical

Until after they landed.

- Do you see her?! Do you see him?!

- What's up?! - Hey you, (beep)

What's up, what's up? - No you cannot.

This is not gonna be happening.

Get your friend.

(women yelling)

- [robert] as the multi-women melee continued,

Another officer arrived.

(people fighting) (beep)

- [officer] hey, hey, hey, hey.

Stop, stop, stop.

Hey, hey, hey, hey. (beep)

- [bystander] oh my god.

- [officer] hey. Hey. Hey. (beep)

Hey, hey, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.

Stop! Stop!

- Oh my god! (indistinct) - [officer] stop! Stop!

- [woman 1] I'm not even (beep) up.

- What are you gonna do? - [officer] stop! Stop!

What are you gonna do?

- [officer] go outside, go, go, go go.

(people yelling)

- [officer] come on, come on, come on.

- [woman 3] come on, let's go. Go, go.

- [officer] please help us out. (radio chatter)

- [robert] when the dust settled,

The six women were arrested.

(suspenseful music) (airplane roaring)

The department of homeland security instituted

A workplace violence prevention program

To keep tsa officers safe.

As we're about to see,

Sometimes it takes more

Than a program to keep them protected.

At honolulu international airport,

A woman is smoking a cigarette

And the tsa officer asks her to put it out.

(suspenseful music)

- I'd been on vacation with my family in hawaii.

I was taking my shoes off, putting them in the bin,

And before I was waved through,

I heard like a bunch of commotion going on

Off to my right

And people started yelling behind me in line.

- [robert] rogers hurdles over the security barrier

And springs into action.

- In terms of my profession in being a police officer,

We're trained to act with purpose.

So physically, it's best for us to just stop it

As soon as we can.

The tsa, as they were running up, were telling me,

"sir, sir, stop, sir stop".

And that's why

I thought that I was probably going to be on the wrong end

Of their aggression if I,

If I didn't let them know

That I was a police officer and put my hand out.

- [robert] airport security comes to assist

The off duty officer and

Take the volatile woman into custody,

While other tsa agents attend to their distressed colleague.

- I handcuffed her and then stood up

And the tsa agents noticed that my shorts

That I was wearing were wet

And apparently the woman had urinated on me.

Luckily, we had been there early enough

Where I didn't miss my flight so, it worked out perfectly.

- [robert] the attacker was arrested

And the besieged tsa agent suffered minor injuries,

But reportedly, is doing okay.

(suspenseful music) (airplane roaring)

When you buy an airline ticket,

You're entering into a contract.

They'll fly you where you wanna go

If you follow their rules.

But what are the rules?

A woman is heading from new york to chicago

When airlines staffers prevent her from boarding.

So she pulls out her phone to document the incident.

- [lady] so can I board?

- No.

- [lady] because of my shirt?

- Unfortunately ma'am, yeah.

- [robert] they claim her outfit doesn't meet

The airline's dress code.

- [lady] and can I see the policy?

- I'm gonna show you the policy for this.

- [lady] cause it's been 20 minutes

That I've been waiting to see this policy.

- [robert] the flight is almost fully boarded

While she's held up at the gate.

- [lady] it's given it don't exist,

Y'all are just policed a woman's body.

That's what it's giving.

'cause if it's there, why can't y'all find it? (laughs)

- You're not gonna,

You don't wanna put something on the side?

- Where's the policy?

- I don't know. I cannot find them.

- So it doesn't exist? - It does exist.

- [robert] just minutes before her scheduled departure,

The gate's attendant spots the flight's captain

And enlists his help.

- Hi.

They're hatin' on you

'cause you're looking good, is that right? (wheezes)

- [lady] oh, I don't take this lightly at all.

I would like to get on my plane.

- [robert] the captain's relaxed approach does not

Go over well.

- [passenger] I need to see the rules.

- Yeah, right, but I'm trying to go-

- [passenger] right, I wanna know what the rule is.

- [passenger] I need something to put on.

I'm just very curious as to what the rule is

Like, what does it say?

- [pilot] yeah, let's find out.

- [robert] according to the contract of carriage

On the airline's website,

Passengers may be removed if they engage in "lewd,

Obscene or patently offensive behavior,

Including wearing clothes that are lewd,

Obscene or patently offensive".

- [lady] I have to leave my (beep) at home.

- You can bring it with you.

- [lady] obviously not.

- [robert] the captain wound up lending her

His 'boys of summer' t-shirt so she could board the plane.

The airline reportedly reached out

To the woman to apologize

And, as a sign of goodwill, refund her ticket.

- Air travel comes with its fair share of headaches.

Long lines at security, flight delays, unruly passengers.

The list goes on.

For the most part,

These hassles have become expected

And the savviest air travelers are adept at avoiding them.

But every once in a while,

There's something that no amount of planning or foresight

Could ever prepare you for.

- Damn, man. Damn!

- [passenger] somebody pull him. Do not get tonight.

Get him restraints!

- [robert] on a flight heading to atlanta,

A cabin crew is forced to subdue an unruly passenger

After other passengers say

He tried to open the doors mid-flight.

- [flight attendant] I need everyone to take

Their seats right now.

With the exception of the people right here.

- [robert] the quick response

From the trained flight crew and passengers

Help subdue the troublesome passenger.

- [flight attendant] you can't get forward in restraints

If everybody's in the aisle.

- [robert] witnesses reported,

The disruptive man took over the public announcement system,

Resulting in this scuffle with some of the cabin crew.

Thankfully, no passengers and crew members were injured

And the plane was diverted to oklahoma city

Where the disruptive passenger was arrested

By law enforcement.

- [disruptive passenger] damn man, damn!

- [robert] outbursts like this happen

More often than you think.

On a flight from la to nashville,

A male passenger was restrained

After reportedly rushing the cockpit.

- [male] stop it!

Stop it! Stop this crew!

- Yeah. He kept banging on the flight door.

That's a no-no.

The second he banged on it, it was loud.

Yeah, we need to get his legs pushed to the back.

- I got him right here. (people chattering)

- [passenger 3] we gonna tie him up?

- [passenger 2] put that on his legs.

- [distraut passenger] I've got a complaint.

- [robert] working together,

The flight attendant and passengers

Bind the disruptive man's hands and feet with yellow cord.

- We're gonna have to get him back.

Okay, I need a few people,

Man or a woman, I do not care.

We need him to go all the way towards the back.

Okay guys.

On the count of three. One, two, three.

- [robert] with 162 passengers

And six crew members on board,

The plane is diverted to new mexico

Where authorities remove the passenger

From the plane and took him into custody.

There were no injuries during the incident

And the flight resumed its way to nashville

After the diversion.

But passengers and flight attendants,

Aren't always equipped to deal with every unruly flyer.

Sometimes, they need to call in the big guns.

- [robert] in may 2017 in melbourne,

Passengers on board malaysian airlines flight 128

Watch in disbelief.

- [robert] as an australian special ops team,

Armed to the teeth, remove a passenger.

- [robert] this man rushed the cockpit door

Claiming to have a bomb.

Special ops removes the man

And determines his bomb was a power pack

And portable speakers.

He'd be sentenced to 12 years, prison time.

(airplane roaring) (dramatic music)

Next,

We see what it's like when the wrath of mother nature

Storms through an airport.

(suspenseful music)

It's nearly 8:00 pm at lambert st. Louis

International airport in missouri,

And it's literally the calm before the storm.

- [woman on p.A.] american airlines, departure-

- [robert] an f4 tornado with winds

Up to 200 miles per hour is just seconds away

And headed straight for the airport.

(thunder crackles)

With people heading for cover, it happens.

The twister barrels through terminal one.

(wind blowing)

(object thuds) (glass shatterint)

It's the strongest tornado to hit the region

Since January 1967.

(object explodes)

Large chunks of the airport's roof are blown off

And more than half of its windows are shattered.

(suspenseful music)

There were no major injuries to travelers or staff.

At lambert,

The largest and busiest airport in missouri,

Was luckily only shut down for 24 hours.

(airplane roaring)

(dramatic music)

- Commercial aviation is the safest mode of travel

In the united states.

But even so, travelers are occasionally given

Legitimate reasons to fear the friendly skies.

All seems normal outside a security checkpoint

At orlando international.

Travelers are lined up. Bags and paperwork in hand.

Then a sound like a gunshot from a nearby backpack.

The bag starts emitting smoke and the crowd scatters.

Even the bag's owner runs away.

(suspenseful music)

Amid the panic, tsa officer ricardo perez bravely approaches

The smoking bag

And quickly removes it from the crowded area.

Perez served 20 years in the army before joining the tsa

In the aftermath of 9/11.

He acted without knowing

What possible threat was in the bag.

In the end, it was just a lithium battery,

The kind used in laptops and cell phones,

That exploded inside the bag,

Causing the cloud of smoke.

The smoking bag caused numerous delays

And nearly two dozen cancellations.

Worse yet, every passenger in the terminal

And passengers already on planes

Had to go through security screenings a second time.

(airplane roaring)

- After dealing with traffic just getting to the airport,

Then the long lines at check-in,

Then the even longer lines at security,

Travelers just wanna get to their seat and relax.

That is not always possible.

A flight from detroit to san diego incurred a slight delay

Because of this protesting professor

Lying on the cabin floor and refusing to get up.

- [female passenger] oh I seen her. I see-

- [female passenger 2] yeah, she was out in front. Yeah.

- [female passenger] I see her like..

- [robert] the airline claims

The woman pushed past gate agents without checking in

And just boarded the aircraft.

So the police were called.

- [male passenger] oh my god.

- [robert] when they arrived and told her

She had to de-board the plane,

The woman refused,

And here we are.

Flat on her back, with her eyes closed,

She appears unresponsive.

Passengers say police officers tackled

The college educator out of her seat

And she resisted by falling to the floor.

(suspenseful music)

She later pled guilty to disorderly conduct,

A misdemeanor.

- [passenger] oh my gosh.

(person speaking faintly)

At bali international airport,

A man who'd been removed from a plane earlier in the day

For banging on the cockpit door

Has somehow found his way to the airport lounge.

Then this.

That's him on the left teetering on a narrow ledge

Above a deadly 80 foot drop.

(mechanical whirring)

A brave fellow traveler has climbed over the railing

To try to coax the man back to safety.

(people shouting)

Now he's been on the ledge for 90 minutes

And he's drawing a crowd.

Then in the blink of an eye,

He's wrestled back over the railing

While the crowd cheers the rescue.

(people cheering)

The man was interrogated by authorities

Who determined he was suffering from depression and stress.

He was sedated and taken to a hospital

For medical evaluation.

No charges were filed.

(people cheering)

(laughs) the phrase is infamous.

"what happens in vegas stays in vegas",

But a young couple on a flight out of sin city

Had one more bold move in mind.

In 2018,

The flight crew on the couple's southwest flight

Is making arrangements for their impromptu

High altitude nuptials.

Travelers turn on their overhead call signals,

Lighting the aisle as the bride makes her way

To the front of the cabin.

(processional music)

(passengers whooping) (passengers applauding)

The pilot officiates the nuptials.

(people laughing)

(people laughing)

(people laughing)

(people whooping) (upbeat music)

- [robert] the couple has revealed

That they'd already been officially

Married during their stay in vegas.

The menu for their in-flight reception was, of course,

Complimentary beverages and peanuts.

Nothing fancy. It was a "plane" wedding after all.

(airplane roaring)

- [robert] in January 2020, some southwest airlines passengers

Got to fly on air farce one.

Before a flight out of hobby airport in houston,

The pilot announces there is a special guest.

- Great to be back in texas where I live.

You're all invited to the ranch for some barbecue.

God bless you and god bless southwest airlines.

- Aw. - And america.

- [robert] but george bush wasn't the only former president

On the flight that day.

- But I have a confession to make.

I'm not really donald trump okay.

Would I be flying coach if I was donald trump?

Of course not. I'd be on my own plane.

It's me. (people laughing)

- [robert] actually, the man on the mic

Is just a particularly talented passenger

Who is entertaining fellow travelers

With his presidential impersonations.

- [passenger 3] that was awesome, man.

- [passenger 4] go get 'em.

- Listen, ladies and gentlemen,

It is so great to be on southwest airlines,

Flying to orlando florida,

The entertainment capital of the world.

- [robert] after fumbling with mic,

He gets off one more zinger.

- Listen, ladies and gentlemen.

(people laughing)

You're fired.

- [robert] hopefully the passengers enjoyed the show

Regardless of their political persuasion.

(airplane roaring)

- That's all for this episode.

But before we take to the skies,

It's time for our short flight of the week.

(upbeat music)

A baggage handler in south africa,

Straightening every bag with their handles facing out.

Unnecessary?

Possibly.

Detail-oriented? Probably.

Above and beyond the call of duty? Absolutely.

Here's to you, luggage hero.

(airplane roaring) (bell rings)