Hometown Hero

Bob Hayden, one of the men who subdued two unruly passengers on a Minneapolis to Boston flight is profiled in the Hingham, Massachusetts Journal. More details about the incident are in this article than were in the wire service reports.

Bob assisted the flight attendants with subduing and handcuffing two out-of-control passengers, while Katie remained calm and did not blink an eye.

As the flight was ready to take off one of the two men – whom the couple described as of Pilipino extraction – became highly agitated but was coaxed back to his seat, Bob says. The plane took off as planned; but about 15 minutes into the air, one of the men jumped out and laid down in the aisle while the other man stood over him yelling. At one point one of the men opened the overhead compartment and threw a suitcase on the floor.

The flight attendants spent most of the flight trying to calm them down, he said. In the meantime, Bob did not sit back during the flight and hope for the best. He used the time to confer with the flight attendants, explaining he was a retired Boston police officer and former Lawrence Chief of Police. He also walked up and down the aisle observing other passengers. He was concerned the men’s erratic behavior might have been planned as a distraction, and could potentially be part of a plan for a larger incident.

Things got really “hairy” when the pilot announced the approach into Logan, Bob said. One of the men again jumped up and the other one started yelling. Bob said he then asked the man sitting across the aisle, who turned out to be a retired Marine, for help.

“The flight attendant waived the handcuffs (plastic ties), which was the signal we had agreed on and the Marine and I subdued both men; I cuffed one while he was on the ground,” Bob recalls. The men causing the disturbance were belted tightly into their seats and Bob and the Marine sat next to them until, after the flight landed, the State Police arrived and took them off the plane.

Thanks to Scott at Powerline for finding this relatively obscure article. As Scott points out, it seems odd that the major media has completely lost interest in this incident and is not following up on anything about it. What is the disposition on the two men taken off the plane? Was this just a mental problem? People actually would like to know about this kind of thing.