Sydney Morning Herald wrote:
A passenger was escorted off a Tokyo-bound plane in Hong Kong after she refused to put her Gucci handbag under her seat, holding up the departure of a flight for more than an hour.
The Cathay Pacific plane was ready to take off but was forced to stop on the runway because the young passenger would not comply with a flight attendant's request, the Apple Daily newspaper reported on Monday.
After 15 minutes of argument, police officers, airport security guards and airline officials were called in to resolve the situation, but she still refused to give in.
After an officer threatened to arrest her, the unnamed passenger finally agreed to leave the plane with her handbag, much to the delight of her angry fellow passengers who clapped as she was escorted off.
"It's not my fault, it was them who were too stubborn," she shouted as she left.
And from Reuters:
. . . The woman later apologized and she and four friends who also got off the plane were put on a later flight to Tokyo.
"There was no problem on the other flight," the Cathay spokeswoman said . . . more
Given that missing narrow landing windows (time-wise) can cost airlines significant money, not to mention the comfort concerns of other passengers, I wonder if airlines can impose lifetime bans on troublesome passengers?
