100 Flatbush Kids Kicked Off A Plane

Image via NYDaily News/@flatbushbeya via TwitterSouthwest Airlines kicked a group of about 100 Brooklyn students off a plane for being unruly. The plane had not taken off yet, which is good or bad news depending on how you feel about teenagers.

The students, seniors from Yeshiva of Flatbush, were on their way from LaGuardia to Atlanta for a three day trip of rafting and Six Flagging.* According to Southwest Airlines, the students refused to take their seats and turn off cell phones after countless requests from the cabin crew and the captain. The crew ultimately removed them (and by extension, the faculty) from the flight. From the NY Daily News:

"The point at which the captain comes on the PA system and says 'You all need to sit down' is unusual,” said Southwest spokesperson Brad Hawkins. Although he refused to go into anymore detail, Hawkins supported the crew’s actions in his statement: "I have no indication that the flight attendants overreacted."

Rabbi Seth Linfield, executive director at Yeshiva of Flatbush, begs to differ. “[P]reliminarily, it does not appear that the action taken by the flight crew was justified," he told the press. Rabbi Linfield also said he had taken groups of similar sizes on flights in the past and never encountered problems.

The teenagers -- who, at that age, will complain when they get in trouble, whether it’s justified or not -- went on a social media rampage. They told anyone who would listen that it was a “scandal.” Obviously. According to the CNN, one of the students believes they were targeted because they are identifiably Jewish, saying, “They treated us like we were terrorists... I think if it was a group of non-religious kids, the air stewardess wouldn't have dared to kick them off.” Oy. But a Business passenger who witnessed the entire scenario says otherwise. Of the 100 students on the plane, there were about 10 in the back who were ignoring the flight crew's instructions and laughing at them, and he only saw two chaperones for the entire group, and they were sitting towards the front of the plane. The crew gave the students "multiple chances" to heed preflight instructions.

"The pilot warned them. They did not comply. They thought it was a joke. You know, it wasn't a joke." 

Southwest booked students on other flights. Some took 12 hours to get to their trip’s destination. To compensate for any inconveniences, Southwest gave vouchers for the faculty and families of students who had been on the flight. 

*I use “Six Flagging” as a verb that means “going to a Six Flags theme park.