Kima Hamilton Delta passenger thrown off for using bathroom during ground delay: How one passenger refused to use common sense and courtesy to their own detriment.
It seems flying the ‘friendly skies’ off America is increasingly becoming fraught with danger, belittlement, agitation and the paranoia that one might be the next passenger making national headlines. Case in point, 39 year old Atlanta man, Kima Hamilton.
Kima’s sojourn revolves around the man enduring the wrath of Delta Airlines after using the bathroom during a tarmac delay. He wasn’t suppose to. But then again what is a passenger to do if nature calls? In Delta’s case, it’s to demand said passenger remove themselves from the plane as they insist on protocol. Define protocol?
The Milwaukee DJ/poet’s hoisting into the national tabloids came whilst was waiting for his Delta Airlines Flight 2035 from Atlanta to Milwaukee on April 18.
Instead of taking off at the scheduled time, Delta were forced to wait on the ground for an additional 30 minutes before take off.
But that’s when the turbulence on the tarmac took a hold.
It was whilst waiting during the process of Delta taxi-ing in a line, one of many other planes, that Kima Hamilton made it known he was in urgent need to use the bathroom.
According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Hamilton stood up from his seat and walked to the back of the plane, asking a flight attendant if he could use one of the stalls to relieve himself.
Maybe if that was me or you, you would have simply pressed the call light over your seat and ‘politely’ explained the situation. Something that Hamilton declined to do.
Not surprisingly the attendant said no, telling Hamilton he would cause the plane to ‘lose their place in line’, if he did.
Defeated and unrelieved, Hamilton returned to his seat. But as the delay continued and the plane remained stranded on the tarmac, Hamilton’s need to go grew stronger.
Yes kids, you know where this is going. Time to take out your cell phone camera and record the next shxt show heading on our national tv screens….
Fearing an ‘accident’ in his seat, the 39-year-old told of getting back up and walking to the restroom at plane’s rear.
He went in, flushed, and returned to his seat in about a minute.
Never mind federal aviation rules that demand all passengers to remain in their seat while a plane is taxing on the runway (for everyone’s safety). But anyway, you know where this is going next.
As Hamilton took his seat and buckled up, he told of an announcement over the intercom being made.
Explained Kima Hamilton via the Sentinel: ‘The pilot came on and said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sorry for the inconvenience but we have to return to the gate and remove a passenger’,’
Quick, take out your cell phone right about now.
Reiterated Hamilton, ‘It escalated to that point that fast.’
Footage of what happened next was posted online by passenger Krista Rosolino – who was sitting across the aisle from Hamilton with her husband and their infant daughter.
In the first of two videos, Hamilton is heard saying to what appears to be an airline official: ‘Can you help me understand why… I need more information, I haven’t done anything.’
The official then says: ‘We’ll discuss this outside, not here. Come with me please. We’re not going to discuss this here.’
Hamilton continues: ‘I’m not really clear… I purchased this ticket, I had an emergency and needed to pee, I tried to hold it the first time and I absolutely couldn’t, and now I’m being kicked off the plane? I haven’t done anything hostile.’
The back-and-forth continued for about three minutes, before the official walked down the aisle and exited the plane noted the dailymail.
‘I have done nothing,’ Hamilton is heard saying, before another passenger was heard agreeing there was no need to boot him from the aircraft.
But thats when the travelers came across another bout of on-ground turbulence.
Second released video shows another man on the plane, a second official, standing in the aisle talking to Hamilton (start video at 3.50 mark).
Hamilton explained his ‘desperate’ need to get to the bathroom, along with needing to get to Milwaukee to help run a field-trip with ’94 sixth graders’.
The official then is heard saying: ‘Let me just explain, basically any time we are about to take off – for your safety, and for everyone’s safety – we need you seated, that’s the bottom line.
‘I understand you had an emergency and I’m glad you were able to take care of that, however, there’s always protocol.’
‘Because you were the person, I’m not saying who ’caused’ the flight to lose its place in line, that’s why we need to talk to you about it.
‘This is not one of those scenarios where we are going to force you off the plane or anything, but because we are inconveniencing everyone right now, that’s why someone came to ask you to leave, and I need you to follow me up to the front desk, that’s all.’
Retorts the disbelieving passenger: ‘You’re kicking me off the plane, I need you to be direct with that language, because this whole “let’s get off and talk” thing isn’t true’.
Responded the official: ‘I’m trying to be 100 per cent, I’m saying because we had to move the plane out of rotation and we need to head back to the gate, we need to see what the reason is… more people are involved than just us right now,’
Responds Hamilton, by now fearing the worst, ‘I don’t understand why I have to get off this plane though, I mean, I had to use the restroom?’
‘We’re not kicking you off, we need to remove you because we need to discuss this further,’ the official replied. ‘I’m just trying to help you man, so if you can follow me, get your things and whatever, then we can get you rebooked.’
When he was eventually forced to leave the plane, Hamilton apologized to the man sitting next to him. But the fellow passenger was supportive, and said: ‘You did nothing wrong.’
Actually Hamilton did a lot of things wrong, but we will go over that more in a moment.
Krista Rosolino then wrote about the incident in a lengthy ‘open letter’ to the airline that she posted online.
Wrote the woman: ‘I observed the most outrageous treatment of a paying customer that I have seen in my two decades of flying,’
‘I trust that you will investigate this matter and see that similar situations are handled better in the future. Not only did your staff truly harm and humiliate one person who was forced to pay hundreds of dollars for a new same-day flight, but you forced the rest of us passengers to endure a two hour saga of watching a man being targeted for having a bathroom emergency.
‘I am disappointed and horrified at how Delta Airlines staff treated their customers/passengers.’
In the letter, she went on to explain how eventually everyone was forced to get off the plane, and they were then allowed to reboard ‘sans Hamilton’.
Yes kids, sounds like fun. Might be time to start booking those Greyhound bus trips again.
Continued Rosolino’s letter:
‘Delta, what was the nice gentleman supposed to do?’
‘Here are the options as I see it: 1) Urinate in his seat. This would be unpleasant for him, everyone around him, and the airline staff member who has to clean it up. 2) Urinate in a vomit bag or some type of device he could have possibly found. Again, same issue with being uncomfortable for him, those around him, and anyone cleaning up later.
‘Or 3) Do what he did—wait as long as humanly (remember, we are humans?) possible, and then go to the bathroom as quickly as possible. Yes, he may have broken the rules… however, the situation was resolved in the 1 minute he was out of his seat. I don’t believe the plane moved an inch during that time.
‘Why did Delta have to continue this saga by returning to the gate to remove him? What about him made you want to remove him from the plane?’
I’ll take a quick guess: a/ refusing to being completely atrophied by the flight crew b/ possibly black, especially a black man who stands at 6-foot-3 with dreadlocks who insists on imposing their own sensibilities c/ possibly because he was an economy passenger and d/ behaving like a self entitled prima-donna who felt his blackness and artistic attitude qualified him to take matters into his own hands never mind federal aviation rules that exist for everyone’s safety.
Not to be outdone, Delta issued the following statement come Wednesday:
‘Our flight crews are extensively trained to ensure the safety and security of all customers. It is imperative that passengers comply with crew instructions during all phases of flight, especially at the critical points of takeoff and landing’.
What do you think? Was Kima Hamilton out of line, or simply too presumptuous to assume that airlines cede money, schedule as well as fellow traveler’s safety and convenience over the needs of one passenger, no matter how legitimate that passenger perceives their needs to be, swag aside….(and then again maybe next time Hamilton can behave like an adult and use the toilet before boarding his flight, in the anticipation that once in a while there is bound to be an issue which will require the use of common sense as opposed to bravado).
