Narrative:

I had no direct contact with this passenger. Passenger was the cause of the event. We landed in gander, newfoundland, canada, to disembark an unruly passenger who had become disruptive and abusive toward a female flight attendant in the coach cabin. By his behavior and interactions with other passenger, we (captain and purser) decided to rid ourselves of him while still able to land at a reasonable station. Regarding human (ie cabin crew) performance, I am concerned about the threshold of tolerance on the part of a united states carrier cabin crew member regarding abusive passenger. A level of knowledge regarding a flight attendant's protective rights may be either not provided by the employer or unbeknownst to the employee. On domestic and international flts, I have witnessed entirely too much behavior that just skirts illegality, but most definitely constitutes physical, verbal, and/or sexual harassment and abuse of a flight attendant at the hands of a passenger. Ultimately, this passenger's behavior could not be mediated by reason, logic, or rational talk. He was just plain 'nuts.' I got a second- hand account that the same passenger said to a seatmate, 'his brother was on this plane with a bomb in his bag, and they wanted to hijack this aircraft to libya or india.' alas, all security threats must be taken seriously. Consequently, a 4 hour delay, but a good choice of action. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: reporter states that the cabin attendants were required to speak to the cockpit crew twice before they received a positive response to divert. After landing at gander the passenger was released and went to a hotel without his baggage which resulted in a delay in order to find and remove the baggage. Gander is primarily a military airport and very helpful with the aircraft needs. However, the passenger went to a different airport and boarded another air carrier and continued his flight to lhr.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: UNRULY, ABUSIVE PAX CAUSED A DIVERSION OF A B767-300 FLT ENRTE TO LHR LNDG IN GANDER. POSSIBLE BOMB THREAT WAS INVOLVED.

Narrative: I HAD NO DIRECT CONTACT WITH THIS PAX. PAX WAS THE CAUSE OF THE EVENT. WE LANDED IN GANDER, NEWFOUNDLAND, CANADA, TO DISEMBARK AN UNRULY PAX WHO HAD BECOME DISRUPTIVE AND ABUSIVE TOWARD A FEMALE FLT ATTENDANT IN THE COACH CABIN. BY HIS BEHAVIOR AND INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER PAX, WE (CAPT AND PURSER) DECIDED TO RID OURSELVES OF HIM WHILE STILL ABLE TO LAND AT A REASONABLE STATION. REGARDING HUMAN (IE CABIN CREW) PERFORMANCE, I AM CONCERNED ABOUT THE THRESHOLD OF TOLERANCE ON THE PART OF A UNITED STATES CARRIER CABIN CREW MEMBER REGARDING ABUSIVE PAX. A LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE REGARDING A FLT ATTENDANT'S PROTECTIVE RIGHTS MAY BE EITHER NOT PROVIDED BY THE EMPLOYER OR UNBEKNOWNST TO THE EMPLOYEE. ON DOMESTIC AND INTL FLTS, I HAVE WITNESSED ENTIRELY TOO MUCH BEHAVIOR THAT JUST SKIRTS ILLEGALITY, BUT MOST DEFINITELY CONSTITUTES PHYSICAL, VERBAL, AND/OR SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND ABUSE OF A FLT ATTENDANT AT THE HANDS OF A PAX. ULTIMATELY, THIS PAX'S BEHAVIOR COULD NOT BE MEDIATED BY REASON, LOGIC, OR RATIONAL TALK. HE WAS JUST PLAIN 'NUTS.' I GOT A SECOND- HAND ACCOUNT THAT THE SAME PAX SAID TO A SEATMATE, 'HIS BROTHER WAS ON THIS PLANE WITH A BOMB IN HIS BAG, AND THEY WANTED TO HIJACK THIS ACFT TO LIBYA OR INDIA.' ALAS, ALL SECURITY THREATS MUST BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY. CONSEQUENTLY, A 4 HR DELAY, BUT A GOOD CHOICE OF ACTION. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATES THAT THE CABIN ATTENDANTS WERE REQUIRED TO SPEAK TO THE COCKPIT CREW TWICE BEFORE THEY RECEIVED A POSITIVE RESPONSE TO DIVERT. AFTER LNDG AT GANDER THE PAX WAS RELEASED AND WENT TO A HOTEL WITHOUT HIS BAGGAGE WHICH RESULTED IN A DELAY IN ORDER TO FIND AND REMOVE THE BAGGAGE. GANDER IS PRIMARILY A MIL ARPT AND VERY HELPFUL WITH THE ACFT NEEDS. HOWEVER, THE PAX WENT TO A DIFFERENT ARPT AND BOARDED ANOTHER ACR AND CONTINUED HIS FLT TO LHR.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.