Male Flight Attendant Arrested....

[A1FlyBoy]

The Associated Press
Thursday, March 28, 2002; 12:36 PM

TAMPA, Fla. –– A Virgin Atlantic flight attendant was arrested for allegedly writing a bomb threat aboard a plane in January, forcing the London-to-Orlando flight to be diverted to Iceland.

Michael Phillipe, a 25-year-old French citizen, was charged with interference with crew members on an international flight, the FBI announced. He was scheduled for a hearing in federal court in Newark, N.J., on Thursday afternoon, a day after FBI agents arrested him there.

Phillipe faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.

On Jan. 19, Virgin Atlantic Flight 27 was en route to Florida when a threat was found scrawled on a bathroom mirror. The message, "American must die," was written in soap, officials said.

A second message, written on an air sickness bag, stated, "Bin Laden is the best Americans must die there is a bomb on board Al Quaida." It was Phillipe who reported finding the threats, authorities said.

As a precaution, the Boeing 747 was diverted to Keflavik, Iceland, where the 322 passengers and 18 crew were questioned and asked to give handwriting samples.

Police found no explosives aboard the plane and concluded that the threat had been a hoax. The flight continued to Orlando the next day, with two police officers providing security.

The charge was filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa because Orlando is in that court's jurisdiction.

 

[flydog]

His husband will be sad to hear that

 

[TDTURBO]

At least the sex in prison will be the same that he's used too.

 

[AWACoff]

I'm glad I don't have to fly with such narrow minded people...By the way, there are MANY male FAs that are straight. There are also many pilots that are gay (GALPA). Guess what, the vast majority are a credit to their profession.

 

[kilomike]

The only comment I have on this---I am straight as an arrow but I'll tell you all one thing--as long as the job gets done and is done safely and professionally, I don't care what people do at home. It's really none of my business!!

 

[Draginass]

Hmmmm . . . . Mousaui, the terrorist is French. This weirdo FA is French. Richard Reid the shoe bomber is English, but boards in France. Now the French won't help with providing info on Mousaui. I think there's a pattern here.

 

[earlthesquirrel]

Did you say that GALPA was the association for gay pilots. I thought it was "GULPA"

hehehehe

 

[Captain Over]

"Hmmmm . . . . Mousaui, the terrorist is French. This weirdo FA is French. Richard Reid the shoe bomber is English, but boards in France. Now the French won't help with providing info on Mousaui. I think there's a pattern here."


'ya bunch of cheese-eatin' surrender-monkies

-Groundskeeper Willie

 

[flynAAvy]

lighten up Francis...

 

[9rj9]

What ?

What the h*ll was Gonzo talking about ?, sounds like he's bragging about how much money he makes.
Gonzo, I wouldn't want to ever fly with you, you freak!!!

 

[flydog]

Hey JGonzo

You took something that was a light hearted joke and turned it into somehting it was not. I did not take any discriminatory actions againist gays. I wouldnt have a second thought about flying with a gay crewmember and couldnt care less. It is you that is displaying hate and narrow mindedness.

I guess you dont make jokes about anything period including gays, blacks, the polish, the Taliban or bad cars because that would be discriminatory againist them. All of the above posters also made fun of the French and Al Qaida. Is this discriminatory? Ever heard of free speech and opinion? Do you lump Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld in the same category as me because they also poke fun at all of the above?

I can communicate with the most intellectual as well as the most rednecked folks out there

The most rednecked folks? And you arent discriminating you ignorant fool? What the **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** is a redneck?

As far as I am concerned you are a god**CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED**ed mother **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED**ing Nazi. I DO discriminate againist Nazis.

 

[Timebuilder]

Jeff-
It sounds to me as though you were trying to make a case about your straightness and success in life. While both are to be applauded, you can't ignore that most generalities begin in fact and experience.

A friend and I had a nice tour of a 777 about three years ago down at PHL. It just so happened that the ops manager for British Airways (they'll always be BOAC in my head, but I'm showing my age again...) had some spare time, and spent almost two hours showing us the plane. On our way back upstairs, we had to ask for help finding the way up to the concourse, and asked a male FA for the airline. He had distinctly affected speech, and, no kidding now, had a PURSE, along with some very unusual mannerisms.

The reason I'm sharing this with you is to point out that some beliefs about men in certain jobs have a foundation in fact, and get reinforced every day. To many, you appear to have been a notable exception. Nothing wrong with that. I just wouldn't jump all over people for a humorous comment made about an FA who was clearly a wack job if he thought that a threat written on a mirror was funny.

 

[skydiverdriver]

Whether you like it or not, you must admit that most male FA;s are gay. I personally don't care, except that there may be a causal relationship between mental illness and homosexuality. Anyway, that's not for us to argue here. On the other side of the coin, I recently heard of one male FA who was not gay, and in a class of 40 women. He had a lot of fun with a few of them, as I guess they were together a lot. So, gay or not, male fa's are having a grand old time. Good luck to all.

 

[JGonzo]

Hey all,

Sorry about the earlier reply. I am not making any money(on furlough), and I certainly wasn't trying to strut my heterosexual stuff. I was only trying to point out that assumptions can be damaging.
I got carried away with my reply, I have deleted it and I will avoid making replies on a post in the future.

I think we all can agree that the FA in question needs to run a nasty ol gauntlet. Hopefully he'll pay dearly for his stupidity.

 

[AWACoff]

Gonzo,
I can vouch for your heterosexuality. You only used the velcro gloves on the female sheep. Skydiverdriver, at Great Lakes and Air Wisconsin, the majority of the male FAs were/are straight and the majority of the female FAs are straight. Maybe it's the water?

 

[Timebuilder]

It could be all that calcium in the cheese, too.

 

[JGonzo]

COFF,

I sure hope you don't start circulating those pics of me on that ONE lonely night out in that central WY pasture...........