Delta Kicks Man Off Plane For Using The Bathroom Before Takeoff

There was a 30 minute tarmac delay

Another day, another passenger harassed on a plane. The skies really aren’t very friendly lately. The latest horrific saga involves a passenger who had to urgently use the bathroom. Let me repeat: a human had to pee. Badly. We’ve all been there folks.

Kima Hamilton, a passenger on a Delta Air Lines Milwaukee-bound flight, was kicked off the plane because he went to the toilet while waiting for the plane to takeoff.

According to reports in the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, the plane taxied to the runway and passengers were told they were third in line for takeoff. Per airline guidelines, passengers are expected to remain seated during this time. But their wait was extended to about 30 minutes. Hamilton said he felt a strong urge to pee and figured it might be OK.

“We weren’t taking off. We were still. The plane isn’t moving,” he said.

So Hamilton did what any of us would do in that situation, he attempted to relieve himself. He walked to the rear of the plane where a flight attendant told him if he used the restroom they would lose their place in line. Hamilton decided to sit back down and hold it. But, obviously, the urgency to urinate intensified (as it tends to do in humans when you can’t use the loo). As minutes ticked on still waiting on the tarmac, Hamilton decided he couldn’t wait. He returned to the bathroom, did his thing quickly, and was out.

That’s when a Delta employee came over and fellow passenger Krista Rosolino started recording the interaction. She made clear that she never felt like Hamilton was a threat and that he seemed nice and friendly. When Hamilton refused to get up without an explanation a second Delta employee confronted him and asked him to leave. In the video obtained by WISN you can hear Hamilton apologizing and calmly explaining to a crew member that he was not trying to have an “emergency.”

The man was not trying to make a mess in his seat, surely that’s understandable. Or so, you’d think. Take a listen to the video posted by the news station that is currently on YouTube.

“I purchased this ticket. I’ve — I had an emergency. I had to pee. … I tried to hold it the first time. … I absolutely couldn’t…and now I’m being kicked off the plane,” Hamilton is heard saying.

Repeatedly you hear Hamilton calmly asking why he’s being asked to leave while refusing to leave his seat. The first Delta worker says, “Follow me. Follow me please,” without providing even a morsel of explanation. Hamilton says, “I need more information sir. I haven’t done anything.” With the second Delta employee Hamilton decided to reluctantly and voluntarily leave his seat.

“It was already understood and decided that I was a problem and I was getting kicked off the plane. When I exited there were FBI agents waiting for me with Delta personnel,” he said. He also added that he was really thankful to Mike Rosolino, who stood by his side.

Hamilton was not arrested, but he did have to buy a new ticket (at three times the price) on Southwest to get back home to Milwaukee. He’s a DJ and a poet, and artist in residence at an MPS school. He needed to be home the following morning for a field trip. The whole plane was then deplaned and the flight was delayed an hour and a half.

The clip above is showing the escalated aftermath of what appears to be a huge misunderstanding and a reprehensible, dehumanizing “solution” to the problem. The problem being – that the man was not trying to piss in his plane seat and Delta employees treated him like shit. This could’ve happened to anyone.

The reporter with MWJS asked Hamilton why he hadn’t used the restroom earlier (a bizarre question if we do say so, but the response was spot on so we’ll record it here).

Hamilton said, “I don’t normally pee right before I get on the plane, and I’ve never had a problem like this before. I don’t remember drinking an abnormal amount of water.”

Here is Delta’s statement on the matter: “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.”

Ok, but where is the humanity of just understanding that 30 minutes on a tarmac is a lot longer than fliers usually need to wait. If a grown adult is saying they really can’t hold it — come on.

It seems more and more airlines are losing their ability to interact in a civil manner. Remember that doctor recently who was dragged off a United Airlines plane this month when he refused to give up his seat for an airline employee on an already over-booked flight? Or what about the terrifying scene of a mother sobbing after an American Airlines flight attendant violently snatched her stroller, hitting her baby in the process.

What is going on? If everyone just added a little consideration for humanity to their services we’d all sail a lot smoother. Or rather, fly a lot smoother. But for real, sailing looks like the better option at this point.