NEW YORK: A flight attendant on a weather-delayed plane yelled at passengers and challenged them to leave the plane if they dared before he was removed and the flight was cancelled. The incident, involving American Eagle flight attendant Jose Serrano, was caught on video.
But ABC News reported the airline, whose parent company is AMR Corp, also released an e-mail from a first-class passenger who blamed the incident on the most horrible display of passenger aggressiveness toward Serrano. The name of the passenger accused of being aggressive was not disclosed.
Traveller Scott Custer, who was on the plane with his wife, said he complained about Serrano’s behaviour to another flight attendant, who told him to talk to the plane’s captain. He said Serrano saw him speaking in the cockpit and confronted him after he returned to his seat.
Port Authority police escorted Custer off the plane despite other passengers protesting that it was Serrano who was being difficult, according to the video. The captain also got off, and later Custer was released. Serrano was then removed from the plane. — Reuters
Brazilian club asks fans to give blood
SAO PAULO: Brazilian football club Vitoria has removed its trademark red hoops from its shirt and told supporters it will add the colour back gradually as fans donate blood. The campaign, entitled ‘My Blood is Red and Black’, is named after the club’s
traditional colours and comes amid a nationwide drive to get more Brazilians to give blood for transfusions.
“We wanted to do more than just ask fans to give blood,” said Vitoria’s President, Alexi Portela Junior, adding, “With this initiative, fans of the red and black can participate more actively in the campaign and they will see the importance of a gesture like this.”
The club normally plays in a red-and-black hooped shirt, with white shorts and red-and-black socks. The campaign comes just a few weeks after Sao Paulo, one of Brazil’s biggest clubs, put the slogan ‘Give Blood’ on its shirts for a game. Brazil’s Health Ministry and blood banks launch campaigns during school holidays as don-ations fall by as much as 25 per cent.