Pilot Makes Passenger Sit on Toilet for Jetblue Airways

I like to listen to the radio as I drive around. The other morning during my commute, I heard the most bizarre radio show story. I was really shocked by this story and did an Internet search to see if it was just a radio show gag or had any validity to it. To my amazement, the story actually had some validity to it. According to the story, Jetblue Airways are in a lot of trouble when a pilot forced a passenger to make a three hour flight in the airplane bathroom. I was completely shocked that such a thing could happen today. Does a pilot really have that much control over what happens on a plane?

According to airline reports and court papers, a male passenger was forced to ride in the bathroom of the airplane for a three hour trip. The man was Gokhan Mutlu of Manhattan. Mr. Manhattan is now suing Jetblue Airways for a total of two million dollars.

What happened?

According to the way things have been told, Mr. Manhattan was on standby pass. This means that he got a seat at the last minute on the plane. The airline staff took the last seat but then decided to use the jump seat. Well part of the way into the flight, the flight attendant decided that she didn't want the jump seat. So the pilot told the passenger to give up his seat and if he wanted a seat to go to the airplane toilet. The passenger complied and spent 3 hours in the airplane toilet for his seat on the flight.

Mr. Manhattan objected to going to the toilet for his flight seat. However, according to the report papers and other accountings of the story, the pilot essentially told Mr. Manhattan that the plane was the pilot's to decide what did or did not happen on the plane.

Let's get real people. Couldn't Mr. Manhattan sit in his seat while the flight attendant was doing her duties? Couldn't he have objected a little bit louder? The flight attendant should not have claimed the last seat on the plane. The jump seat could've been utilized part of the time. It is completely absurd that Mr. Manhattan would just go and sit on the toilet.

Do you think that he was crazy? I do! I think that he was just looking for a reason to sue the airline. And how did he come up with the two million dollar amount? I'm sure some lawyer is hoping for a big piece of that action. And all of this for being stupid enough to sit on an airplane seat?