A Los Angeles-bound Virgin America flight was forced to land in Nebraska Monday morning after a male passenger on drugs began furiously masturbating and trying to open the plane’s emergency exit door.
The Omaha Police Department reports that 26-year-old Doug Adams was experiencing a “psychotic episode” on the flight and was immediately taken to a hospital for observation. According to several other passengers, Adams was also wearing a hospital bracelet and appeared to show signs of mental distress in the cabin.
Film producer Sam Slater was on the flight and videotaped police escorting the man off the plane in Omaha. He and a friend explained the situation further to CBS LA:
“He asked if he could use the restroom, he had been mumbling about not trying to be violent, and how I don’t want to be a violent person. And we’re sitting in the front row, and we’re both a little concerned and watching what’s happening,” Slater said.
Bernon said the situation seemed to escalate after the man returned from the restroom.
“When he came out of the bathroom, he sat back down, he was arguing with the woman next to him, said he didn’t want to sit next to her,” Bernon said. “He got back up, told the attendant he wanted her to move, and at that point they paged to see if there was a doctor on board.”
Adams was apparently calmly detained by two off-duty Boston police officers who were on board. The flight resumed without incident once Adams was escorted away by police.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
We wouldn’t say a masturbating passenger is a good thing to have on board, but it sure beats one that would straight-up molest you.
Merv
Another example of the failed policy of trying to integrate mentally ill people into society. We used to have secure residential facilities to deal with cases like this, and for their own protection and to keep them isolated from the rest of society. Now we hand them a prescription and expect them to take care of themselves. The result is massive numbers of homeless people, and less obvious mentally unstable people causing incidents large and small every day. We need to open the mental hospitals back up and sweep the streets the rest of society of the homeless, drug addicts, and the rest of the severely mentally ill.
Stache99
Lets see. Disappears into the bathroom, sky high blood pressure, and an overwhelming urge to masturbate. Sounds like Meth.
Oli1023
@Merv: Seriously? You’re trying to segregate people suffering from mental disorders, instead of combating the issues that caused them to suffer in the first place? You’re a sad pathetic excuse of a human being.
Lvng1tor
D@amn I should have proofed my comment. Whoops
NateOcean
Just like extra leg room, and extra baggage.
The next thing you know, the airlines will be CHARGING us *extra* for “in-flight masturbation”.
vive
@Oli1023, unfortunately we are in fact segregating many of the mentally ill from society – in prisons and homeless shelters. The policy of closing mental hospitals and institutions left and right hasn’t helped.
Billy Budd
In MY opinion, schizophrenics/drug addicts who are in a crisis (I mean psychotic) and unstable should have a proper place to go. I don’t mean they should be incarcerated for the rest of their livrs. But there should BE a place where they could go when they are unstable or living in the streets or commiting crimes.
samwise343
People need to leave this guy alone. All he wanted was to get off.
Merv
@Oli1023: Yes, I think severely mentally ill people should be segregated, for their own protection and ours. When you see a filthy mentally ill homeless person picking through the garbage for food and muttering to himself and others, do you think we’re doing him a favor by allowing him his freedom to roam and not to take his medicine? When a mentally ill person tries to open an airliner door at thirty thousand feet, is that just the price of freedom? If a meth addict or alcoholic is living in the gutter, surviving by stealing to get money for food and drugs until he overdoses after a few years, is that a legitimate pursuit of happiness? When mentally ill young people go on shooting sprees, are we glad that we ignored the signs of mental illness? Our current system isn’t working. If a severely mentally person is not getting treated, or the treatment is ineffective, then he should be locked up.