Although flying can be faster and more convenient than other forms of travel, it certainly has its drawbacks. It is expensive, airports can be maddening, and if you are stuck next to an unruly traveler, it can make your entire trip a nightmare. We often hear horror stories about children and babies on flights that make us glad we weren’t on board.
But don’t kid yourself: Adults can be equally awful to fly with if they aren’t on their best behavior. A traveler from Texas shared a horrifying tale in the Austin subreddit that is almost too crazy to believe. A man apparently boarded the flight and was so intentionally excessively gassy that he ended up being tossed off the plane.
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The man appeared to have beef from the moment he stepped on the plane.
The Redditor wrote that the man seemed unhappy from the get-go.
“Before most people had boarded, I observed that this man was audibly disgruntled about something, maybe hungover, rough day idk, but as soon as he sat down he was grumbling about something under his breath, like ‘f—ing hell’ or something,” the original poster, or OP, wrote.
Then a few minutes later, the man got into a verbal confrontation with another passenger and intentionally farted.
“I don’t know what provoked that comment, and while kinda funny to overhear, it was uncalled for especially coming from a grown man on an airplane nonetheless,” the OP explained.
It got worse as the flight crew readied for takeoff.
The passenger OP dubbed “Fartman” appeared upset that other people onboard were eating, and the smells bothered him.
"The man who just purposefully farted moments ago decides to loudly and condescendingly say ‘yeah, everybody let’s just eat the smelliest food possible all at the same time’. A guy in the row over replied, ‘if you don’t like it you can fly private’ to which fartman says ‘that’s so f–ing rude’, and another person nearby chimes in,” the OP wrote.
The dialogue continued, and a passenger said, “‘I think we’d all agree you’re the rude one here.’ Fartman replies something like ‘that’s just so low class’ and the other guy rebuttals with ‘well you’re back here in economy with the rest of us’ lol. There were flight attendants nearby who stepped in and said ‘that’s enough’ to fartman and moved on.”
The crew kicked Fartman off the plane.
The plane turned around and went back to the gate, and a flight attendant told Fartman he was no longer welcome on the flight.
OP wrote, “He simply replies, ‘I don’t understand’ and she tells him they’ll talk about it off the plane. He gets up, grabs his bag and quietly exits the plane. We all breathed a sigh of relief when he was removed, I think most ppl were on edge about what he may say or do next. The trip was only delayed by 15-30 minutes, so all in all I think American handled it swiftly.”
Other Redditors chimed in about the flight.
Some people in the comments were on the flight and corroborated OP’s story.
“I was on that same flight Sunday eve and can attest that it was a stinky flight! I didn’t know what started the ordeal but there were a lot of smells competing in there. It was surprising that he left peacefully, but it was quite the walk of shame. I could hear him mumble ‘I just don’t understand.’ Thanks for the inside scoop!” one person wrote.
Another person gave more details.
“I was on this flight two rows behind fart man. I didn’t hear the fart situation but I do have some more context and can confirm he was an a–hole," the person wrote. “There was an older Hispanic lady next to him eating Panda Express. He complained loudly and extensively about the smell, and it was my impression that the lady didn’t speak much English because she never really talked back to him or anyone else. The third person in their row walks up to take his seat and fart man says sarcastically ‘Hope you like Panda Express’. And he continues to complain loudly to god-knows who."
The commenter continued, adding, "Then the women behind him started telling him he’s an a–hole and to stop b—-ing about it already and he turned on them. ‘I’m not being a f—ing asshole I’m just telling this lady what manners are’ He did calmly get up and walk off the plane. Very entertaining drama.”
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Many applauded American Airlines's crew for taking charge.
It was clearly a hostile and stinky situation, and Redditors were pleased to see the airline staff step up.
One person didn’t think there was any excuse for his behavior. “He farted as PUNISHMENT to the people around him! This does not require sympathy for anyone other than the other passengers," he wrote.
Plenty of people agreed.
“I have no problems at all with the zero tolerance policy airlines seem to have adapted lately. It is not hard to avoid getting thrown off a plane, and I have yet to see (or even hear about) someone getting deplaned without unjustifiable rudeness to their fellow passengers,” one person wrote.
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
