Michael Isabelle, Plane Passenger, Punches Flight Attendant When Blocked By Food Cart

Ah, the joy of long haul flights. A passenger went nuts on a flight attendant on a JFK-bound flight Thursday when he saw that his path to the bathroom was being blocked by a beverage cart, according to the New York Post.

Michael Isabelle, of Framingham, MA, started the mayhem around 6am on an American Airlines flight from Rio de Janeiro. Isabelle kicked the cart repeatedly until it fell over and punched the hapless flight attendant, Carlos Carrico, in the stomach.

It took Carrico and two others to wrestle Isabelle to the ground and place plastic cuffs on him. Once the plane landed, Isabelle, 63, was taken to a local hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.

JFK airport has seemingly been a hotbed of interesting activity recently. Earlier this week, a Columbia University student who forgot his ID tried to jump onto the baggage carousel in order to make his San Francisco-bound flight.

Comments

[PartyPartyParty]

07:53 PM on 01/25/2011

Sounds like a Flomax commerical.

[gascelebrations]

11:33 AM on 01/25/2011

When you gotta go, you gotta go.

[irisisland]

02:00 PM on 01/26/2011

much more than that...he tried to enter the pilot's cabin. The attendant was using the cart to block his mad rush down the aisle. He beat the attendant bloody before two Argentinian passengers subdued him. Michael Isabelle is a gun fanatic, tea party supporter who hates immigrants.

[Syrlinus]

05:28 PM on 01/23/2011

Oh.. and more details about this here: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/01/21/2011-01-21_2_new_yorkers_come_to_rescue_when_deranged_man_attacks_flight_attendant_on_jfkbo.html

[Syrlinus]

05:05 PM on 01/23/2011

I travel a lot. Some flight staff are friendly; others, not so much. It takes a lot to be constantly "happy" for people and to take some of the crap that others throw on you. There are times when the cart will be used to block passengers from getting to the bathroom (usually because the pilot or co-pilot needs to use it). But if it's blocking for other reasons, simple politeness towards the flight staff can go a long way.

I'm not sure why people decided that simple manners doesn't apply any more (regardless of how the staff is to you doesn't mean that you should treat them the same) If they are less than professional, file a complaint. I've done this on the occasions when I detect that it's more than just a long bad day. I try to remember that these are people too and they have bad days as well.

Mr. Isabelle took to extreme the idea of the customer is "always right". The visit to the psychiatric ward would indicate to me that there is more to this story than just kicking the cart.

[WryAwry]

03:26 PM on 01/23/2011

Did the passenger soon thereafter require a wipe and a wash-up?

[MohammedAbbasi]

08:20 PM on 01/22/2011

maybe she should have breast fed the passenger?

[hodz]

12:38 AM on 01/23/2011

Carlos is a male crew member.

[MohammedAbbasi]

12:17 PM on 01/23/2011

LOL, silly me mixing up a gay chap with a woman!

[joemac1114]

07:53 PM on 01/22/2011

Google Gerard Finnernan for the ultimate Air Rage.

[NobodySince1980]

10:55 PM on 01/22/2011

This account of it, clearly in a form of tongue-in-cheek, is hilarious!
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Gerard_Finneran
TY for the laugh, F&F!

[johnmorgan]

07:52 PM on 01/22/2011

Some of these airline employees (and definitely TSA employees) deserve to be treated like that.

[AirViceMarshalPark]

08:05 PM on 01/22/2011

Flight Attendants should be slugged? When they pull you out of a burning plane, we'll see if you still think that way.

[metropixie]

08:11 PM on 01/22/2011

You and your 173 fans are a bunch of bullies! Shame on you!

[drillsgtmark]

07:51 PM on 01/22/2011

You wonder if the guy was drunk. I wonder what it would be like to stop serving alcoholic beverages on flights. Probably is a great revenue maker for the airlines. However, you wonder how many times that alcohol has contributed to people's bad behavior on a commercial flight.

[Mupaaat]

07:35 PM on 01/22/2011

Similar to the Seinfield rerun episode where Elaine can't get past a cart to the bathroom, and Kramer decides to leave the plane using the luggage shoot.

[PelePele10]

07:47 PM on 01/22/2011

Lol!

[FlipMode]

07:28 PM on 01/22/2011

Oh no. Here's the first use of Sky Rage. May it not get the overuse that it's cousin, road rage got.

[jk4]

07:14 PM on 01/22/2011

I'm sorry this happened to this person who was just doing a job responsibility; however, airplanes should abide by the same rules that apply to buildings on the ground: aisles should never be blocked.

[Amondale]

07:18 PM on 01/22/2011

No, they should not because they are not a building on the ground, they are a long cylindrical building roughly 35,000 feet in the air.

[teddyjoy]

07:22 PM on 01/22/2011

PEACE! How can you keep the aisles clear on an airplane or train or bus? Buildings and transports are really different categories.

[timm553]

07:09 PM on 01/22/2011

Damn!!!...........LMAO

[Unshriven]

07:02 PM on 01/22/2011

Sounds like he never did get to go to the restroom...guess his morning package landed in his shorts.

[SiriusGD]

06:57 PM on 01/22/2011

It was either that or never mind... when you gotta go you gotta go...