An unrelated series of bizarre air travel incidents the past three days has been capped with a physical threat made by a "violent passenger" against former presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Romey was departing Canada with his wife on Monday after attending the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. According to the Globe and Mail, the Republican politician was sitting in the economy section waiting for the plane to take off when the incident occurred:
The man sitting in front of Mr. Romney's wife dropped his seat back and when Mr. Romney asked him to move it upright for takeoff, the man became "physically violent." Another report said that the man tried to strike Mr. Romney.
Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom told the Globe and Mail that the former Massachusetts. Governor "did not retaliate" and that the crew took care of the situation. The plane returned to the gate so that local authorities could detain the suspect.
On Saturday, director Kevin Smith was kicked off of a Southwest flight from Oakland to Burbank because he could not fit in his seat. Smith sent out a series of well-publicized Tweets, and the airline apologized.
On Sunday, a couple was kicked off a plane that had been stuck on the ground for two hours. Their offense? The husband repeatedly asked for a cup of water for his 7-month pregnant wife.