A Jetstar flight attendant in Australia took it upon himself to help out some passengers in a very special way. It seems that many of the folks on board were returning from the Splendour it the Grass music festival in Byron Bay and the flight crew got word that there were drug dogs and police waiting at the Sydney terminal. That’s when the following happened during an in-flight announcement. From The Daily Telegraph:
“We have been told there are sniffer dogs and quarantine officers waiting in the domestic terminal,” he told passengers on a late Gold Coast to Sydney flight on Sunday night.
“If you need to dispose of anything you shouldn’t have we suggest you flush it now.”
The plane was full of weary festivalgoers returning from the Splendour in the Grass music festival — and there was allegedly a rush for the toilets.
Of course not everyone on board was holding and some took offense to the nature of the warning. They were vocal, of course, or we’d never hear about this story.
“I was shocked,” a passenger told The Daily Telegraph.
“Why would you tip people off about this? If they have got something illegal, let them get caught. I obviously couldn’t tell if people were flushing things but several of the people who suddenly got up to queue for the toilet had things clenched in their hand.’’ (via)
This breaks one of my own personal rules of life: if no one is being hurt and you’re not involved, leave people alone. What do you care if someone is caught with drugs or not? Just get off the plane and go about your business.
Jetstar confirmed the announcement had been made to passengers and released a pretty predictable announcement about it all:
“We’re required to play a pre-recorded quarantine announcement for customers on all flights across interstate and territory borders within Australia,” a Jetstar spokesman said.
“Our procedures also allow cabin crew to deliver the quarantine message through a public announcement and on this occasion the crew member elected to do so.
“The crew member’s words were poorly chosen and are plainly at odds with the professional standards we’d expect from our team. We’re addressing the matter with the cabin crew member involved.” (via)
I have to call an excessive foul on this one. It might’ve been against protocol and bending the rules a bit, but what horse does Jetstar or anyone without drugs on their person have in the race? It’s not like the drugs belong to Jetstar and they planted it on the passengers as part of an elaborate smuggling scheme. Is it?
(Via Mashable / The Daily Telegraph)