Woman Claiming to Be a Doctor Demands Emergency Landing, Fellow Passenger Calls BS with Unexpected Results

The story, shared to an anonymous forum, featured a transcontinental flight that hit heavy turbulence leading to one passenger freaking out and demanding an emergency landing.

And while the conflict that ensued disrupted fellow passengers on the flight, the subsequent Reddit post seemed to cause even more controversy among the commenters. Many called the original poster (a.k.a. "OP") an a--hole for intervening the way he did, while others (many of whom were flight attendants) shared another side to the whole issue.

Read on to see how the whole thing played out.

The man kicked off his story by setting the scene.

"I (30M) was on a flight from Atlanta to LAX last night. Packed flight, everyone just trying to get some sleep. About two hours in, the lights come on and an announcement crackles through the intercom: turbulence ahead, fasten seatbelts. Pretty standard stuff," he recalled.

Of course it wouldn't have been a story worthy of the AITA (am I the a--hole) forum if that was simply the end of it.

"Then, all hell breaks loose," he added. "This woman, maybe late 40s, impeccably dressed, starts freaking out. Screaming about air pockets, demanding to speak to the pilot, the whole nine yards."

"Flight attendant (super patient lady, bless her) tries to calm her down, explains it's standard procedure, turbulence is normal. Nope, not having it," he explains of the irate fellow passenger.

"This lady, who we'll name Jane, throws a fit," OP claimed. "Not the screeching, nails-on-a-chalkboard kind, but a cold, steely fury. She accuses the flight attendant of lying, of putting everyone in danger, and demands to be deplaned immediately."

"Flight attendant says that's not possible mid-flight," the man recounted, "and Jane launches into this whole spiel about how she's a doctor (pulls out an ID to prove it), and if something happens, it's on the airline."

"Now, the rest of the plane is awake," he said. "People are grumbling, some looking scared, a baby starts crying. Flight attendant is trying to reason with Jane, but it's like talking to a brick wall."

Then came his response: "Finally, I just lose it. I yell out (probably a little too loudly), 'Look lady, we all get turbulence. It's not a five-star resort, but it's safe. Sit down and shut up before you get yourself arrested!' Everyone stares at me."

"Jane spins around, eyes blazing, and starts in on me about disrespecting a medical professional," he claimed. "I fire back that a real doctor wouldn't be causing a scene and freaking everyone out. The flight attendant dives in, trying to mediate, but the damage is done. We hit some turbulence, not terrible, but enough to jostle the plane. Jane freaks again, and some people start getting panicky."

Immediately, OP said he regretted getting involved at all.

"I feel awful, maybe I made things worse? The flight attendant gives me a look that could curdle milk, but then steers Jane away to talk to her privately. By the time we land, things are calmer, but the tension is thick. Jane gives me a withering look as she disembarks, and a few people mutter thanks under their breath."

"So, AITA? Did I just escalate a bad situation, or was I right to shut down a meltdown that was putting other passengers on edge? I'm honestly not sure," he wrote, concluding his post.

While many Redditors seemed to feel OP had overstepped, and should only have gotten involved if the woman had become physically violent, others disagreed.

One flight attendant (abbreviated on Reddit to F/A) shared: "Just my little 2 cents. I’m an in charge F/A and a couple of weeks ago we had a disruptive passenger. We had to go back to the gate for a maintenance issue and got delayed by about an hour. A man started cussing at everyone and yelling. When I went to see him, he started acting like he did nothing and that I was mistaken, it wasn’t him, my F/A was being dramatic. Another man cut me off and told him off for me. He told him pretty much everything I had to tell him, which is behave or get off the aircraft."

"It’s sad to say, but when it was coming from me, that disruptive man was playing games but told off by this bigger military man, he shut up and behaved the whole flight. Not a sound came out of his mouth. I obviously don’t want other passengers to always get involved but I was so grateful because it cut the bs immediately, I honestly didn’t get the vibe he would’ve listened and having to wait for security to kick him off would’ve taken so much longer. I’m not saying to always get involved but I would not have had that situation deescalated without that man getting involved," the flight attendant concluded.

To which another commenter noted: "Unfortunately I think, with a certain type of guy, the dynamics change when it's a woman talking to them vs a man. In OP's case, it sounds like he's a man, and the person freaking out was a woman. In which case it's less likely that a man yelling at her is going to be effective in the same way."

While others seemed to take the whole thing a lot more personally: "It doesn't matter that you're being rude to the fake doctor; it matters that you're disrespectful to the flight attendant and the other passengers. You're not Batman, performing some distasteful-but-necessary vigilanteism; you're just a second loud a--hole yelling at the first loud a--hole."

Yet another, and the highest rated comment on the post, dropped not only their two cents but a very specific UK reference (e.g. Netball): "YTA, but unknowingly. The crew are trained to handle these sorts of situations and you in your frustration escalated it."

"I fly. A lot. I'm also a very big guy who looks like he can handle himself," he continued. "There's kind of an unwritten rule that if there's an aggressive passenger I sit the f--k down but pay attention, don't jump in, don't risk making things worse in an attempt to fix the issue. Sit down, shut up, and if the crew need help they'll ask. You ever watch/play netball? Unlike a lot of sports where players will call for the ball, open players in netball say 'here if you need'. Or, imagine going to the supermarket and you see someone with a pallet stocking shelves you don't just start grabbing stuff and putting it on a shelf saying 'I'm just trying to help'. Let the professional handle it."

What do you think?