Just an FYI: I live in San Diego (well, 20 mi. east of downtown.

These men (boys?) were not "Arabs" or "middle-eastern" in the traditional sense. They were Chaldeans ("Kal-dee-anns"), which are (basically) Christians from Iraq. They were heavily persecuted by the large Muslim population there, and many have fled Iraq and (legally) entered the U.S. There is a very large population of them in the San Diego east county city of El Cajon. They are, generally speaking, typically very good people. I know and have worked with many.

Unfortunately, these young men have really F-'ed up! If actually convicted, they face fairly heavy prison sentences, from what has been reported locally.

I'm in no way defending them or their actions. Just saying...it's not right to stereotype people because of their appearance or surname. It's easy to do...but it isn't right.

What was the quote from the old "Hanging Judge Parker" in Fort Smith? "They'll have a fair trial at noon, and the hangin's at one!"? They tend to be quite arrogant at times, especially the Planetlillians.

I spent a month in Amarillo, TX one weekend.

i do belive the airline is faulty too.

i got some 4 star hotels in europe and ALWAYS dispatch groups all over the hotel different floors and corridors to avoid them doing noise and disturbances.i never understood why airlines do the opposite.
probably the root cause is because airport staff don't fly in the plane with them after..

beside adult attending kids , group of more than 4 should be splited all over the plane.
this will solve immediatly all the issues.

cathay pacific use to do that at my request on the late 80'' with sea crew going back home to philippines or amsterdam... it is completly impossible to control a group of 15 drunk dutch tanker sea crew..especially that they were ff alchool for last 3 month.the only way is to split the group.

thank you for attention.
olvivier@olivarius.com

the news reports and photos did not say specifically what these people did to disrupt the flight and the crew, other than being very loud..i can imagine however..they also only showed one person being led away in handcuffs...when will people learn that you don't get into a fight,or name call, or other such on an airplane because the flight attendants and cockpit crew are in charge,and just like in an unruly classroom, they can say enough, and even handcuff you..in this case I believe the flight was diverted to Amarillo..(actually a nice little airport even if it wasn't the destination!)good for southwest!

I don't believe these "unruly Swedes" were just a bunch of clowns. There is a very real threat to aviation brought forth by the misguided sons of the Middle East. They constantly test the security systems and reactions of crew members to refine their bent to kill infidels that have soiled Saudi lands.

Former Los Angeles Police Chief and politician Ed Davis put forth a plan to "Hang 'em at the Airport" to deter hijackers, but that line of thinking could be extended to any felony committed on a plane. The gallows could be erected between Duty Free and the Hummus Kiosk. It would sure thin the herd of idiots that want to cause a ruckus in flight.

Another fine example of intolerance for authority.

Maybe if some commenters watched the news report instead of jumping to conclusions there wouldn't be so many stupid comments. These guys were a bunch of assholes, no matter what race or religion and need to get thrown into the slammer for exactly what the law prescribes, not a shortened sentence. IDIOTS!

oliver..the airline was southwest and they do not have assigned seating..passengers board by a group number and can sit wherever they like,except at an exit..airlines cannot "discriminate" by separating passengers seats,unless the flight is full and people travelling together cannot be seated close to one another..the exception as i stated are exit rows by faa requirements.."airline staff" persons as you call them,are well aware of seating availability,accommodating passengers requests and other such..obviously this group did not get "rowdy" on the plane until well into the flight as they were going from san diego to chicago and the flight diverted to Amarillo..an airline is not responsible for the actions of a passenger who has been security screened,boards an airplane and decides while flying to be disruptive..you can rest assured the other passengers were not happy,not so much about the diversion, but about the rowdy group...

So glad to see this type of behaviour will not be tolerated .As a frequent flyer on planes that are crowded and stressful to begin with. I do not want to contend with disruptions of this sort ,to put it mildly it scares the---- out of me!

jail them

One additional comment: Local news in S.D. reported the group (of 12) as all part of a local soccer team, on their way to tournament in the Chicago area.

Guess they aren't going to get to play...LOL!

There are times when I have heard of actions by airline crews that basically instigated problems. Anyone can have a bad day.
This does not seem to be one of those times. I am glad that they did this. I hope that two things happen:
1. The airline sues for losses of time and fuel expenses including all overhead costs.
2. That the airline additionally sues for financial recovery to the other passengers.

Since we live in a society whose criminal laws and civil laws and whose jail systems are all based on money it makes sense.

Their behaviour was succeeding (until they landed in a Texas jail). That must have been quite a shock.

i do belive the airline is faulty too.

i got some 4 star hotels in europe and ALWAYS dispatch groups all over the hotel different floors and corridors to avoid them doing noise and disturbances.i never understood why airlines do the opposite.
this is probably the root cause ..because airport staff don't fly ..

beside adult attending kids , group of more than 4 should be splited all over the plane.

thank you for attention.
olvivier@olivarius.com

Follow the rules. What is so hard about that?

If I might add...FAA Regulations 91.11, 121.580, and 135.120 states that "no person may assault, threaten, intimidate or interfere with a crew member or the crew members duties aboard an aircraft being operated. It's a Federal Rule! If Pax disregard the rule...the crew can put those unruly pax down. Very unfortunate for the good pax. But this is what it's come to.

Great job Southwest! They just learned why you DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS!

The millennial mentality: rules and laws don't apply to me and I should be allowed to be myself and do what I please. A clear problem if the "Myself" happens to be an idiot.

LMAO.......check out the link to the Chicago CBS station.

All Arab looking dudes with Arab-like names. A pack of 12 of them, evidently. From San Diego. Sorta like what would happen if I put on a KKK sheet, went to Ferguson, and started yelling racial slurs at all of the locals on Saturday night.


Being disruptive/belligerent on a US airliner. If they were in fact being disruptive, it's a wonder a bunch of the passengers didn't get together to beat the crap out of them. OTOH, you can't get much farther from the prying eyes of the bleeding heart media than Amarillo.

You can't fix stupid. Is the "Darwin Award" an award for individuals, or can a group receive one?

Between these guys, and the "roman candle on the top of the head" guy, Mr. "Eff them alligators" guy is getting a real run for his money as this year's Darwin Award winner.

Time to develop "escape/passenger removal" pod for airliners, to eliminate costly diversions due to unruly passengers? Preferably with an "Arm/Disarm" switch for the pyros and the parachute.

Were there any air marshals on this flight? Do we have air marshals any longer? I haven't heard of any lately.

Thankyou Jimmy Carter. Deregulation was the start of the end of aviation as we knew it. Everything declined...Airlines went bankrupt and mergerd...forgive me but...the trailer trash people flooded the airways. Creating big time trouble. I flew during that time and saw my airline go down the gutter like many others. Very sad. It used to be fun. Meeting people...then we, as a crew had to defend ourselves from the people. These guys committed a Federal Law.

Misbehaving Swedes on their way to the National 7-11 conference no doubt.

It makes me wonder...
Just how long are we as American people going to put up with these foreigners that refuse to follow laws or behave in a civilized manner? I know what would happen to those yayhoos in Mexico. Two years in the dungeon. And I've seen Mexican jails. Not pretty. And, if foreigners tried this in North Korea? Or Iran?

Erecting the terminal gallows...There should be a jury trial...the jurors could mail in their verdicts a week after reading press reports.

PLEASE DEPORT all of these idiots! The entire group should be fined, deported , and put on a no fly list.