Pilot mocks passenger who ignored crew and sprinted to front of plane | Travel News | Travel

One pilot has been hailed a “hero” for ridiculing an entitled woman who dashed down the aisle to be the first one off the plane.

A fellow traveller recounted how the woman leapt from her seat as soon as the plane touched down and sprinted towards the exit.

Despite the seatbelt sign still being illuminated, she disregarded the cabin crew’s requests to return to her seat until the plane had safely stopped.

Sharing the episode on Reddit, the passenger stated: “The woman in the back unbuckled and darted to the front of the plane to get off first.

“She did not make any eye contact and felt that she was special. I’m talking about going from the very last seat on the plane, down the whole row, and past first class, basically standing at the little kitchen thing in the front.

“The seat belt sign was still on and we were still rolling down the runway. The flight crew had asked her to return to her seat until we reached the gate but she was not even responding.”

The passenger further detailed how everyone onboard shifted their focus to the woman after enduring the lengthy eight-hour flight.

But that’s when the pilot decided to intervene.

“Suddenly the captain announced we had a special guest onboard and he would be coming out to greet them after we were settled at the gate,” they added.

“The woman stood there awkwardly until we did the whole rolling into the gate thing, and whatever planes do when they land, for about 15 to 20 minutes.”

They went on: “Everyone sat there waiting to see what the captain was talking about. Eventually, the captain came out and asked the lady to please move back a little to get to his special guest, then a little more, then a little more.

“He was looking from row to row trying to find a specific person. Everyone is watching and looking around to see who it could be.”

The pilot kept directing her back one row at a time until she reached the very rear of the aircraft.

Finally, as they approached the back of the plane he asked her to sit for a moment while he collected the intercom at the tail end of the plane.

The person recalled: “He said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to announce our special guest sitting in seat 42C. Let’s give her a round of applause’. The whole plane went wild with laughter and applause. I loved every moment of that.”

Commenting on the pilot’s decisive move, one user remarked: “That pilot is a hero to the people.”

Another user added: “I was hoping that the special guest was a federal marshal coming onboard to arrest the woman for refusing to follow safety-related commands given by members of the flight crew.”

One passenger said: “Sometimes when a plane is late getting in there are people that have a connecting flight that will be very tight to make. They need to get off the plane quickly to have any chance at their connection.

“The best way to handle that is to inform the stewardess and they can make a general announcement. Of course, sometimes people ignore that announcement and block the aisle for those people anyway.”