Narrative:

Four passengers were seated in row 8; exit row. 8A; 8B and 8C appeared to be traveling together. During my briefing of the exit row passengers the three men traveling together were a little boisterous. 8A told me he wasn't willing and able to assist. Then said he was after I told him I would relocate him. I think he was trying to be humorous. After we began to taxi out to the runway the passengers in 8A and 8B stood up. I started to reach for my phone to make a PA but then 8A started walking aft. I went back and asked what he was doing and he said 'I am going to [the bathroom]!' I asked if he could wait because we were going to be taking off very soon. He got louder and said 'no; I have to [go to the bathroom]. I am going to [the bathroom]'. It was at that point I became suspicious that he may be intoxicated. I asked him if he had been drinking. He said no but at the same time the passenger in 8D who was not traveling with them said 'yes!' then he again stated that he was 'going to [the bathroom]' so I told him ok and that I would let the captain know so we would stop taxi and wait.I looked at his friends and 8B said 'he isn't drunk'. 8C said 'he is just [a jerk]'. And 8B said 'he is a [jerk]. He is like this all the time'.I called the captain (ca) and advised him of the situation. The ca told me we were going to be going into a 20-minute ground delay but that he would make a PA asking all to be seated. The man from 8A came out of the lavatory. The captain made an announcement asking everybody to be seated. But the man from 8A continued to stand in the aisle in row 8.I again went back to row 8 and asked what was going on and he was very hostile and raised his voice and told me 'you need to know that if you ever tell me I cannot [go to the bathroom] again; if you ever tell me I can't then I will stand up! I will stand up for every person on this airplane...'. I noticed this time he was slurring his words. By 'standing up' he meant stand up for himself and not physically stand up. I felt intimidated by his behavior and felt that he was threatening me. I was afraid that if I would have to ask him to buckle his seat belt or anything else that he might lose further control or 'stand up' so I walked away from them and went back forward. Keep in mind that I also never told him that he could not use the lavatory and that he did use it. I called the captain and advised him I felt unsafe with this passenger and that he was threatening and slurring and did not think it was safe to continue with him onboard. We discussed it a bit as this was not a decision taken lightly. We went back to the gate and law enforcement came on along with two station personnel. The officer told the man to come with him so they could have a chat in the jet way. As the man was being escorted off one of the station personnel blocked me in the galley so I was not in view of the passenger. I could not hear the conversation in the jet way and the passenger was removed from the flight. We closed the door and taxied back out. During my beverage service passengers seated in 2D; 7C; 7D; 8D and 9D all told me that they were glad the passenger was removed. The passengers in 7C and 7D told me they were getting nervous with him sitting behind them. They said when I was up front he was saying a lot of things that made them uncomfortable.as we were deplaning; two more passengers stopped to tell the captain and me that we handled the situation well and thanked us for not letting him continue on their flight. Finally the man who had been sitting [near] them told us that he saw all three of them drinking minis that they snuck onto the plane themselves but that the other two settled down after their companion was removed.the passengers who had been traveling with him were compliant with regulations during the flight and also apologized for their companion as they deplaned the aircraft.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ-200 Captain and Flight Attendant reported an intoxicated and belligerent passenger was removed from the flight when they returned to the gate.

Narrative: Four passengers were seated in row 8; exit row. 8A; 8B and 8C appeared to be traveling together. During my briefing of the exit row passengers the three men traveling together were a little boisterous. 8A told me he wasn't willing and able to assist. Then said he was after I told him I would relocate him. I think he was trying to be humorous. After we began to taxi out to the runway the passengers in 8A and 8B stood up. I started to reach for my phone to make a PA but then 8A started walking aft. I went back and asked what he was doing and he said 'I am going to [the bathroom]!' I asked if he could wait because we were going to be taking off very soon. He got louder and said 'No; I have to [go to the bathroom]. I am going to [the bathroom]'. It was at that point I became suspicious that he may be intoxicated. I asked him if he had been drinking. He said no but at the same time the passenger in 8D who was not traveling with them said 'yes!' Then he again stated that he was 'going to [the bathroom]' so I told him OK and that I would let the Captain know so we would stop taxi and wait.I looked at his friends and 8B said 'he isn't drunk'. 8C said 'he is just [a jerk]'. And 8B said 'he is a [jerk]. He is like this all the time'.I called the Captain (CA) and advised him of the situation. The CA told me we were going to be going into a 20-minute ground delay but that he would make a PA asking all to be seated. The man from 8A came out of the lavatory. The Captain made an announcement asking everybody to be seated. But the man from 8A continued to stand in the aisle in row 8.I again went back to row 8 and asked what was going on and he was very hostile and raised his voice and told me 'You need to know that if you EVER tell me I cannot [go to the bathroom] again; if you EVER tell me I can't then I will STAND UP! I will STAND UP for every person on this airplane...'. I noticed this time he was slurring his words. By 'standing up' he meant stand up for himself and not physically stand up. I felt intimidated by his behavior and felt that he was threatening me. I was afraid that if I would have to ask him to buckle his seat belt or anything else that he might lose further control or 'stand up' so I walked away from them and went back forward. Keep in mind that I also never told him that he could not use the lavatory and that he did use it. I called the Captain and advised him I felt unsafe with this passenger and that he was threatening and slurring and did not think it was safe to continue with him onboard. We discussed it a bit as this was not a decision taken lightly. We went back to the gate and law enforcement came on along with two station personnel. The officer told the man to come with him so they could have a chat in the jet way. As the man was being escorted off one of the station personnel blocked me in the galley so I was not in view of the passenger. I could not hear the conversation in the jet way and the passenger was removed from the flight. We closed the door and taxied back out. During my beverage service passengers seated in 2D; 7C; 7D; 8D and 9D all told me that they were glad the passenger was removed. The passengers in 7C and 7D told me they were getting nervous with him sitting behind them. They said when I was up front he was saying a lot of things that made them uncomfortable.As we were deplaning; two more passengers stopped to tell the Captain and me that we handled the situation well and thanked us for not letting him continue on their flight. Finally the man who had been sitting [near] them told us that he saw all three of them drinking minis that they snuck onto the plane themselves but that the other two settled down after their companion was removed.The passengers who had been traveling with him were compliant with regulations during the flight and also apologized for their companion as they deplaned the aircraft.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.