Summary
Orthodox Jewish passenger Yisroel Liebb filed a federal lawsuit claiming a United Airlines pilot forcibly removed him from an airplane bathroom during a January 2024 flight from Tulum to Houston, exposing his genitalia to passengers.
Liebb said he was experiencing constipation and had been in the bathroom for about 30 minutes when the pilot broke the lock and dragged him out.
After landing, Customs and Border Protection officers detained Liebb and another passenger, allegedly making derogatory remarks about their religion.
United Airlines and CBP declined to comment.
The rules are that they can’t take off or land unless everyone is properly seated.
The pooper was forcing the entire plane to remain in the air.
Many years ago I was on a plane that hadn’t taken off yet, and someone was in the bathroom. They couldn’t taxi until the person returned to their seat, and after several announcements, flight attendants wind up having to knock on the door so the person (who I assume at that point was hiding due to embarrassment) would return to their seat. We missed our takeoff window with ground control and had to wait an additional half hour to find another window. All of my flights connecting flights were delayed until it could land, but a severe storm blew through, grounding most of them for about an hour more.
In the world of flying, these sorts of small delays have unintended consequences with system-wide effects.
But the pilot featured here was beyond the pale. That was a grotesque and inappropriate response.
I wonder if they were in the air or on the ground. Based on the fact that they were detained after they landed I’m guessing they were in the air. The whole thing sounds very non-ideal. Reading through the discovery material, if the case makes it that far, will be interesting.