Wow. Wonder what was going on in his brain!! 
ETA: here is a link to the CNN article if you canât access the ST one:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/23/us/alaska-airlines-passenger/index.html
At 10:56, the pilot of that flight calmly reports on the situation onboard:
https://archive.liveatc.net/kpdx/KPDX-ZSE-Oct-23-2023-0100Z.mp3
I was lost in an airport once and finally asked someone pushing a wheelchairâI followed them all the way to my convoluted destination.
I just booked my flight to Athens for next August (super reasonable for premium economy) - and decided on getting to Greece 2 days before sailingâŠjust to give myself breathing room in case of delays. It might be overkill but I feel better knowing that chance is smaller. And hey, itâs Greece! Iâll stay around the block from the Acropolis so Iâll have that to play with.
If the news is accurate, sounds like he pulled the fire handled, which shut off fuel to the engines, hydraulics, and a whole lot of other things. Sounds like they pushed them back in immediately before the engines shut down, and kicked him out of the cockpit without resistance.
This sounds like something spontaneously done, without thought, a mental health problem. He was not determined to take the airplane down. If he had, he could have just waited till the next flight, where he was actively flying, and waited for the other guy to leave the cockpit. Sounds like he was completely docile.
Many years ago, at my company, a pilot determined to take the airplane down brought a hammer and a speargun. Hit all three crew members in the cockpit in the head violently with a hammer, and was fighting to the death with two of them while the captain managed to land the plane. It was quite a story, and a miracle they survived.
Both my sâs and their wives were flying back (different locations/different itineraries) to SF that night. That scared the snot outta me.
News reports quote him as saying he hadnât slept in 40 hours and had taken psychedelics.
Wow. Dangerous and stupid on the sleep, and illegal on the drugs.
And scary to think he could have pulled this off on his own flight.
Ironically, the plane landed in the only state where ââshroomsâ are legalized. What an ordeal! Looks like the crew handled the situation extremely well.
Funny. But of course, this wouldnât help him, doesnât matter if itâs a legal drug where you are, you get caught with that in your system and youâre toast. Then again, think this guy is going to jail for quite some time anyways.
Legalized with heavy regulations about where and how they may be purchased and consumed. You canât just buy them and take them home to take whenever. They must be ingested in a licensed facility with licensed personel present for the trip. Psilocybin 101: What to know about Oregonâs psilocybin services : Oregon Health News Blog
Does that apply to airline personnel if they are just on the plane and not part of the crew? The problem here is that he was on the jump seat in the cockpit (I guess it was a full flight on a Sunday evening). But if he was down the back like any other passenger then would he still be barred from (say) consuming alcohol?
If heâs in the back and not in uniform, and a non-rev, he can consume alcohol. As a jumpseater, whether in the cockpit or not, no booze. Then again, different airlines might have different policies, but never within 8 hours of show time for the cockpit, or in uniform in the back. Drugs are a different deal. No illegal (not just state, but federal) in your blood system EVER. We got drug tested sporadically, and you donât know when itâs going to happen. They are now testing for certain prescription addictive drugs, too. I was very paranoid, I wouldnât even eat poppyseed bagels.
Update on EU flight cancelled bc of mechanical difficulties, causing us to spend an unplanned overnight in GermanyâŠ
After multiple inquiries and an email that indicated I might have to get EU authorities involved, I received an email from United indicating we could either get 600 euros from them (in 12 weeks) via check or get a $1,000 travel voucher, in 3 days. I picked the check.
Iâd want the check tooânice you had the option.
I think that overhead space should be decided on distance. We fly every year but will never take a wheeled bag again. Once we were a family of 3 traveling from a small airport 3 flights totaling 23 hours, we had to gate check our only carryon (for 3 people)?and it was checked all the way to Sydney. Another time we were going to Copenhagen and again was denied our carry on for the first flight due to space and a small plane. I had to quickly find important meds and hoped they fit in my purse. It was really frustrating to know that many of the passengers who took up space only had that 1 hour flight and really didnât need their stuff for 1 hour when we clearly did for our 23 hour journey. (We donât travel heavy only 1 bag for 3 of us)
That tends to be the case if you are flying long haul direct because those are larger planes with larger bins. If you have connections on smaller regional jets, or with European carriers, all bets are off. Typically though you can see which type of aircraft is flying the route and check the carry on restrictions. You may also need to pay more to be in a higher boarding group so they donât run out of bin space.
I have different size carry ons just for that reason. I also travel with a large tote style purse as my person item that fits under the seat where all the must haves go, along with one change of clothes, in the event they take my carryon away.
Last year we flew BostonâDublinâGlasgow. The Dublin to Glasgow leg was in a turboprop, where the carry on maximum was only 15 inches, as opposed to the usual 21-22 inches. We had smaller carry ons and were prepared for that. Many had standard size carry ons and their bags had to be placed in the cargo hold.
Seems like three small âpersonal item that fits under the seatâ bags would be better than one larger carry on bag for this purpose.
Note that some airlines outside the US have weight limits as well as smaller size limits.
Yep! I have a very very small carry on I tried to use for an international trip. It weighed too much. And was sent as checked luggage.