We’ve all heard there are certain things you probably shouldn’t bring up in conversation. Religion. Politics. Money. Whether Marvel is better than DC. 😉
And then there are questions that aren’t necessarily offensive…they’re just questions you probably shouldn’t ask. Especially on an airplane.
When curiosity crosses a line
A Delta passenger apparently made that faux pas not long ago, when on a red-eye flight from LAX to Fort Lauderdale. As Redditor gabe840 said on Reddit’s r/Delta forum, they were sitting in 2B and just as cabin service is about to start, the person in 1B got the attention of one of the flight attendants and says, “Hey totally random question, but on my last couple flights I noticed the flight attendants didn’t block access to the galley when the pilot used the lavatory. Is this a new procedure for you guys?”
I can tell that some of you, especially if you’re flight attendants, are already wincing.
Anyway, according to gabe840, flight attendant responded, “Hmm, that’s news to me,” before they walked away from 2B and spoke to the senior flight attendant. Said senior flight attendant walked up to passenger in 1B and confirms that the passenger had questions about access procedures for the flight deck.
The passenger in 1B agrees and said they were just curious.
The senior flight attendant replied that wasn’t something they could discuss with them, which, at least to me, seemed to make the passenger in 1B a little huffy.
“Oh, excuse me,” 1B reportedly said, “I didn’t realize I wasn’t able to ask questions.”
“I can answer most questions,” replied the senior FA, “but I cannot answer questions related to the security of the aircraft.”
1B exclaimed that was weird and asked, “why not?”
(Me: #headdesk)
The FA retorted, “Seriously? You know why. Don’t you remember 9/11? We cannot talk about that stuff. So thank you for letting us know what you observed on your prior flights.” And they walk away.
Gabe840 said that later on, when the pilot went to use the lavatory, they called the two FAs from the rear of the plane to come to the front and block the galley and one of them stared at 1B the entire time.
Reddit reacts
Because this was Reddit, and on a Delta forum no less, the responses came fast and furious. Some highlights included:
1B’s gonna be TSA’s list for forever now
I mean, it would certainly make sense. Sitting so close to the cockpit and asking questions that could be interpreted as security issues, I wouldn’t be surprised. Or, as one Redditor said, “Dude just got his Global Entry and TSA Precheck revoked.”
1B was really an air marshal
This theory came up more than once – the PAX in 1B was an air marshal and making sure that the FAs did their job correctly. But (A) that’s not what air marshals are there for (here are some facts about federal air marshals that you probably didn’t know) and (B) flight attendants in the U.S. typically know when and where air marshals are onboard.
Gabe840 in 2B was lying
Because Reddit allows its users to be anonymous, there’s always the possibility of someone making stuff up. And more than one person suggested as much. But someone else, who said they were a FA, said it wasn’t “out of the realm of possibility.” And another person piped up and said the “Remember 9/11” thing did happen to them. And yet one more person suggested they could believe someone asking the question because aviation nerds might pick up on something like that and thought it was neat (although they thought the FA response was total BS).
Perhaps 1B was on the spectrum
This was actually my first thought, and goes up there with not being able to read the room properly, which sometimes happens with people who are on the autism spectrum (and before anyone gets their panties in a wad, yes, I have lots of experience – both personally and professionally – with people who have autism spectrum disorder). The person who originally suggested it even said, “I … always make myself look suspicious in plenty of situations due to my random curiosities mixed with my inability to read the room.” Another Redditor suggested the same thing, that 1B was a person who was: “…genuinely concerned about a perceived change in procedure but unable to gauge how the query will be received.” (I also wondered if the slightly snarky “I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to ask questions” response might fit into that interpretation.). Several other people who self-identified as being on the autism spectrum said they’ve experienced similar situations.
New Cockpit Safety Measures
One Redditor said that (most of you aviation geeks probably already know this…) on larger international jets, there’s a door of bars that close and lock and this allows the pilot to use the lav without the FAs having to block access with their carts.
Another person backed that up and also said, at the time, that it would be a required feature on new commercial aircraft starting in August of that year (but won’t be retroactive for planes already in use before then. Which, I think, is dumb).
Some adults don’t remember 9/11
September 11, 2001 was almost 25 years ago. Honestly, that realization hit me almost as hard as the rest of the story.
Whether 1B was simply curious, socially awkward, an aviation enthusiast, or something else entirely, we’ll probably never know.
But one thing is certain: questions about cockpit security procedures are almost never going to end well.
Flight attendants spend their days trying to keep passengers safe while following rules they often aren’t allowed to explain. Putting them on the spot with questions about security doesn’t leave them with many good options.
Curiosity is usually a good thing.
This just happened to be one of those times when it probably would’ve been better left unsatisfied.
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