Arrested onboard: The 16 worst real-life airline passengers

It seems like every time you turn on the evening news these days (haha), another unruly passenger is flipping out on a plane. Not surprising, considering the current state and stresses of air travel, but mildly unnerving nonetheless. As such, we've ranked the 16 worst real-life passengers of the past few years who've successfully gotten their flights diverted and themselves arrested. 

Dude being detained on flight
YouTube

16. Yes, acting insane will get you detained
Spirit Airlines, Ft. Lauderdale to Atlanta
Last month a guy flipped out mid-flight, repeatedly screaming "There's a bomb on the [expletive] plane" and hurling things at passengers, before being subdued by police and carted off to the psych ward of an area hospital. You can watch all the excitement go down right here.

15. Snakes on a plane, literally
easyJet, Tel Aviv to London
Nope, no Samuel L. Jackson here -- just a dude questioned by police for, according to passengers, "whipping out" his pet corn snake mid-flight.

Dude duct taped on plane
The Internet

14. Yet another invaluable use for duct tape
Icelandair, Reykjavik to New York
Drunk flier or victim of a mid-air heist? Hard to tell from the picture of this guy taped to his seat (and gagged!) by fellow passengers last January. Ok, he actually went nuts after downing a bottle of booze and proceeded to spit, hit, and scream at folks on board. The takeaway here: Don't mess with New Yorkers or Icelanders -- they're not taking any sh*t.

13. Just practicing in case of an emergency?
Alaska Airlines, Anchorage to Portland
& AirTran Airways, Baltimore to Austin 

Apparently, this happens more than you'd think. In May, a 23yr-old man was held down by passengers after trying to open the emergency exit ten minutes (possibly late for a date?) before the flight was scheduled to land in Portland. Not to be outdone, another nut job tried to open two emergency exits en route to Austin, resulting in the plane being diverted to Memphis so he could be extracted.

12. Strike two
US Airways, Ft. Lauderdale to Charlotte
Stop us if you've heard this one: a woman refuses to turn off her cellphone, then, after the plane returns to the gate, physically assaults the two officers attempting to arrest her. Oh, Florida. What ever shall we do with you?

Scene from the movie Alex Cross
Summit Entertainment

11. "Oh, you don't like the in-flight movie? Let's see what we can do about that."
United Airlines, Denver to Baltimore
After a family with small children complained about the graphic nature of the in-flight movie, Alex Cross, flight attendants informed the pilot, who apparently is a HUGE Alex Cross fan diverted the plane to Chicago to have them removed as a security threat. They were greeted by the FBI.

10. Canadians do NOT tolerate a lack of hygiene
Jazz, Prince Edward Island to Montreal
That's the lesson to be learned from Canadian regional carrier, Jazz, after it booted an American because he straight-up stank, and fellow passengers complained about his "unpleasant aroma". It could also be that they don't like Americans.

9. Well, technically, it's not a cell phone call
Delta, New Orleans to New York
What better way to get press for your smartphone app that lets customers make VoIP calls over the internet than to cleverly get yourself kicked off a flight for, you guessed it, making VoIP calls over the internet!? Well played, Talmon Marco of Viber. Well played.

8. No, no, no, no… I don't think so
JetBlue, New York to San Diego
An angry woman was booted after her flight diverted to Denver. She screamed bloody murder because the passenger seated next to her received a free upgrade, and she had shelled out $65 for the premium seat. "No, really, it boils down to fairness". Crybaby.
 

PSA Airline Flight Attendants
Pacific Southwest Airlines

7. Talk flirty to me
Saudia, Riyadh to Jeddah
If the Internet's to be believed (and why shouldn't it be?), two dudes were escorted off their plane after complaining that a flight attendant was inappropriately flirting with a passenger by calling him 'habibi', an Arabic term for 'darling'.
 

Anchorage, Alaska
Wikimedia Commons

6. Alec Baldwin
American Airlines, Los Angeles to New York
And speaking of entitlement issues, you knew it was coming -- Monsieur Baldwin and his infamous game of Words With Friends.

Woman arrested on plane
KUSA 9 News Denver

5. Are you filming me? Are you filming me?!?!
Frontier Airlines, Atlanta to Denver
Admittedly, it can be tricky getting your bag to fit in the overhead bin. Not everyone, however, becomes as frustrated as the woman who -- upon struggling with the bag -- became irate and "threatened" the flight attendant. And when she noticed another passenger filming her on his phone, she flipped out, grabbed the cell, and flung it.

4. If you don't shut that kid up, I'm going to do it for you
Delta, Minneapolis to Atlanta
And that's exactly what a drunk guy tried to do to, smacking a 19-month-old aboard his flight. Only, though, after reportedly disparaging said infant with some racially-laced profanity.

3. Come on, it was just some light petting
JetBlue, Burbank to New York
Seemingly oblivious to the unwritten "No touching other passengers" rule of commercial air travel, a clearly inebriated dude was kicked off the plane in Denver after "allegedly stroking a female passenger on her arm and grabbing her waist". He also apparently petted the head of the woman seated in front of him. "Good passenger. Goooood passenger".

Allegiant Airlines plane
Flickr User: InSapphoWeTrust

2. And speaking of getting a bit, randy
Allegiant Air, Medford to Las Vegas
This summer, a couple couldn't wait to get the party started... so they didn't. Turns out, oral sex on a plane nets you a $250 fine. Seriously, you gotta read the story alongside our rules for getting it on at altitude.

1. And in the blue corner…
American Airlines, San Antonio to Dallas
With the amount of stress that flying puts on travelers these days, it's surprising that passenger-on-passenger cage matches aren't more common. Which is why the two Texans in first class who decided to settle their recent dispute with bloody fisticuffs comes in at Number One. Seated across the aisle from each other, apparently passenger one kept interrupting passenger two's conversation and using profanity, before finally eliciting the response he was seeking -- a strong backhand to the face.