A pilot on a United flight heading to Mexico used the intercom system to shut down a racially-charged political argument on the flight.
The video, posted to YouTube last week, shows the pilot taking to the airwaves calling for peace. The video described the situation:
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On my friend's @wirelessness flight from SFO to Mexico, some kinda scuffle broke out where an individual with a "plaid shirt and a camo cap" said something racist (about being "glad to have kept his guns") to an African American lady, and she began to cry and freak out. They separated the two of them, and then the Captain of the flight got on the PA and made this announcement.
The pilot told passengers too basically chill out.
“I understand everybody has their opinions; that’s fine. If you support him, great. If you don’t, I understand. However, we’re out here to go to Puerto Vallarta, supposed to be having a good time, and what I do ask is that as people we have the common decency to respect each others’ decisions and to get along on this three hour and 13 minute flight so that we can have a good time when we get down there. If anybody has a problem with this, that needs to vent or rant or rave — there's another flight tomorrow. They're not going to be on this one," the captain said as the plane erupts in clapping.
United released a statement to CBS: “The pilot was made aware of an incident onboard and used the intercom to diffuse the situation and insure the safety of everyone onboard. The flight continued without any further reports of disturbance.”