Theft On A Plane

February 10, 2010

in Passenger Stories

I was on a flight from Florida to Tennessee, returning home from a vacation. A lady a few seats back got settled in, then got up to do something, came back, and her cell phone (which she’d left on her seat) was missing. A stewardess noticed her searching all around on the floor for it, asked what was up, and she told her she’d lost her pink RAZR cell phone. As the last few people got onto the plane, the stewardess and the lady failed to locate the phone and the stewardess then verbally announced that a pink phone had been lost and could people please check the floor and area around them. Nothing.

The search continued a bit longer before the stewardess went up front. The captain got on the intercom and announced that a pink cell phone had been misplaced and that if someone found it to please bring it forward. After waiting about 10 minutes with no cell phone appearing, the captain announced that the plane would not be leaving until the phone was found, suggested that the phone either be returned, nudged out into the aisle, or left in the bathroom–and that if it didn’t appear, federal marshals would come aboard to search for it. The phone still didn’t appear.

Then federal marshals did appear at the front of the cabin. A person near the tail end of the plane summoned a stewardess and claimed to have picked up the phone off the lady’s empty seat earlier thinking that it’d been lost and he was just going to return it later–and hadn’t been paying attention to all the announcements and people looking around on the floor because he was listening to his iPod at an extremely high volume.

Apparently that story wasn’t a very good one, as both he and his lady friend were promptly escorted off the plane by the marshals. The plane left without them, but the duo managed to delay the scheduled departure time by 30 minutes.

I can’t help but think that a charge of petty theft was escalated into a federal offense for interfering with a flight.

{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }

david February 10, 2010 at 3:54 pm

i dont believe this at all, they would not bring marshalls in for a lost cell phone, and they wont delay everyone to look for it and have an ultimatum saying if it isnt found then they wont fly……never will happen and everyone knows that, and pilots are not allowed to hold up a plane without just reason and i am sure the ailine would love that and how would they explain why the next flight would be delayed fue to a lost cell

better chances would have been that once in the air they would have made an announcement, so it doesnt distract the other passengers and hold everyone up, once on a plane your not allowed to get off till the plane has landed due to FAA regulations

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jadefirefly February 10, 2010 at 6:02 pm

David, are there any stories that you DO believe, or do you simply revel in posting your theories on why stories are fake?

Do you honestly believe there are SO many people out there desperate for their name in print that they'd MAKE UP a story, just to have it posted on a blog, in the hopes that someone like you might buy it?

Seriously. Find another hobby.

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david February 10, 2010 at 6:29 pm

what so because i show that something clearly cant happen means that i should believe it is true

next thing i know i will have the abdominal snowman laying next to me on vacation in hawaii

i fly alot and i know what can and cant be true, and it seems that alot of stories are either way overexagerated or just didnt happen

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CLMT Lady February 11, 2010 at 1:21 pm

Abdominal snowman has good abs huh? I think you mean Abominable Snowman… ha ha

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GMMR February 11, 2010 at 4:49 am

David, do you have a problem with me and my buddy Yettie taking a vacation in Hawaii. Are you now a gay basher, I hope not.

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GR February 11, 2010 at 5:42 am

Gentle reminder- there have been no Stewardesses since 1973!

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David February 11, 2010 at 5:56 am

Haha na I'm not some of my good friends are gay and they are hilarious, btw they seem to be the more trustworthy people they normally won't go behind your back

my alien zarghari from cosmoplanto4 wishes peace n is amazed by fried kfc chicken

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Eutychus February 11, 2010 at 5:57 am

Oh, and David, what is an abdominal snowman, anyway? Is it like an abominable snowman, only with six-pack abs?

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Glenn Reuben February 11, 2010 at 5:58 am

If this happened at all. the law officials boarding were probably local police. Air Marshalls are not going to blow their cover over a cell phone.

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David February 11, 2010 at 6:00 am

An abdominal snowman is a 8ft halfman halfmonster looking thing……..I thought it was a myth n my eyes were decieving me but the doctor says I am fine

the history channel has an episode about him on monsterquest

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GMMR February 11, 2010 at 8:37 am

I met your friend from Cosmoplanto 4 last week on a flight from Omaha to planet Slabovia. She was sitting half in my seat and all of hers eating a 16 peace meal right out of the bucket. She was rather nice but could spend a few hours on the old treadmill.

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David February 11, 2010 at 8:58 am

Na she just wants to try n fit into american society

I am sorry about her size she is too lazy and gives an attitude but she is on medication so it's getting better

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GMMR February 11, 2010 at 9:52 am

Has she ever tried lorazepam. It does wonders for people with a bad attitude brought upon from eating to much gravy from KFC.

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David February 11, 2010 at 9:58 am

Well maybe the kfc grilled chicken will help but fried is sooooo much better and the biscuit is scrumptious

we are waiting for our spaceship to take us to nebular7 to visit zarkan but the snow is holding us up

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D.V. February 11, 2010 at 12:07 pm

Wow. All of this fuss over a stupid cell phone? I travel frequently, and the last I remember, every airport I've ever been to still has payphones, so I don't understand why everybody thinks that they absolutely MUST have a cell phone, or that they cannot function without one.

Like tatoos, break dancing, and rap music, I keep hoping that the cell phone fad will eventually go away. (Hey, I can dream, can't I?)

I wonder if anyone else on the plane attempted to call that cell phone. Chances are it was still "on" and probably would have responded, allowing it to be found quickly.

I find it highly unlikely that a flight would be delayed, or that authorities would board the plane over something so trivial. I doubt that the cell phone was all that important. The passenger should have put it in her purse or taken it with her, or better yet, left it at home.

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David February 11, 2010 at 3:02 pm

Well ya see he needs to be fit n work out so he can run from people and camaras you see he is very very shy and likes his privacy

he flies only when he feels his cover is blown

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Increasedosologist February 12, 2010 at 6:47 am

actually this story is very beleivable because federal regulations say that all cellphones must be turned off after leaving the gate and the pilot in command, knowing that there is cellphone on board that obviously has not been turned off due to being lost, can not leave the gate or else he would be knowingly operating the aircraft in violation of fed regs and risk losing his certificate.

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david February 12, 2010 at 10:18 am

federal marshalls still wouldnt enter the plane for a cell phone (unless the person or phone could be deemed a threat……but that would be a different story)

its a cell phone, i have been on some flights where people have misplaced their phone and all that happens is they ask someone to call it and if it wasnt found than they assumed that it was misplaced and we carried on with departure

later on they found a 9ft yetii making calls to make reservations at texas big eats steak house

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GMMR February 12, 2010 at 12:47 pm

Ya I met him there and we sat and each had a 16 oz t-bone. Man was it ever good.

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david February 12, 2010 at 6:17 pm

unfortunatly people thought he was in costume and started poking him with a stick, it made him upset and when he upsets he eats………no more steakhouse =(

he decided to fly upto alaska and see if he could stay with the palins, but then realized that she thought he was a wolf and wanted to chase and hunt him

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crella February 14, 2010 at 2:21 am

'abominal' , David…'abominal' ….although 'abdominal' did give me a chuckle 😀

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David February 14, 2010 at 5:55 am

Oh I know but with all the running he has to do to outrun the likes of hunters and palins idea of helicopter hunting he has to have a strong core

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Increasedosologist February 14, 2010 at 7:07 am

which brings up a question why didn't op ask someone to dial her number?

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Increasedosologist February 14, 2010 at 7:14 am

GODDAMIT THIS IS TRULY THE MOTHER OF ALL WEBSITES FROM HELL! I HAVE NOT YET BEEN ABLE TO MAKE ONE, THAT'S RIGHT ONE SINGLE FREAKING POST HERE, WITHOUT IT GIVING ME AN ERROR AND HAVING TO RETYPE EVERYTHING FOR THE SECOND TIME INTO THE WINDOWS NOTEPAD AND THEN PASTING IT HERE! THE MOST INFURIATING THING IS IT IS MADE THIS WAY ON PURPOSE TO KEEP PEOPLE FROM BEING ABLE TO CUT AND PASTE TEXT SOMEWHERE ELSE. IT'S A MIRACLE THAT ANYBODY IS WILLING TO JUMP THE HOOPS THAT ARE NECESSARY TO MAKE A FREAKING POST HERE! I GUARANTEE THAT 90% OF THE PEOPLE THAT WOULD HAVE POSTED HERE IF IT WORKED LIKE IT'S SUPPOSED TO, END UP JUST GIVING UP AND NEVER FIGURING OUT HOW TO MAKE "REPLY" WORK.

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david February 14, 2010 at 9:11 am

idk it seems to work out well for me, just typing in the box and pressing submit, no need to copy n paste

did you forget to put in your email address?

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Owen February 16, 2010 at 12:57 pm

I am with David, I don't believe it; no way they're going to call Federal marshalls on and delay a flight for a stolen (lost?) cell phone. Ain't gonna happen. Those folks only move for security threats. And even if they DID somehow do that, what, they're going to get a warrant because soembody SAYS their cell phone is gone, and bodily search or search the carry on luggage of every passenger? NO WAY Jose.

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patsytp January 28, 2016 at 7:29 am

No way a Captain would hold up a flight for a mobile (cell) phone that may not have even existed to begin with. Cost of a pink phone? Maybe a few hundred (if that) bucks. Cost of calling Federal Police onto the plane to sort it out? $1000's… cost of losing your slot over said phone? Priceless. Didn't happen.

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