United Airlines replaced a pilot before
takeoff on Saturday after she boarded in civilian clothes and told passengers
over the intercom that both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were liars and
that she was getting a divorce, witnesses said.
The airline
on Sunday declined to identify the pilot or comment beyond a previous statement
apologizing to customers, many of whom left the plane out of concern for their
safety.
The flight
from Austin, Texas, to San Francisco took off with a new pilot about 90 minutes
late, passengers said.
"She
shows up dressed like a civilian and asked us to take a vote to see whether we
should have her change into her uniform or fly as is," passenger Pam
O'Neal told KPIX television upon landing in San Francisco.
"She
started off by saying that she had not voted for either Trump or Clinton
because they're a bunch of liars. ... It just really sort of went downhill from
there and didn't make a lot of sense to any of us," she said.
Passenger
Randy Reiss tweeted throughout the event, at first saying, "I'm shaking
right now. I just left my @united flight 455 'cos the captain demonstrated that
she was not mentally in a safe space."
She then
mentioned she was going through a divorce, commented on a interracial couple in
the first-class section by saying "yay unity," and told Reiss he did
not have to fly if he felt uncomfortable, Reiss said.
Reiss
tweeted a photo of her back in the terminal speaking with two uniformed
officers.
"She
was crying. She apologized. I wished her well & said I hope she gets the
help she needs," Reiss said.
United
spokesman Charles Hobart said the airline would not comment beyond Saturday's
statement.
"We
hold our employees to the highest standards and replaced the pilot with a new
one to operate the flight, which has since departed Austin. We apologize to our
customers for the inconvenience," the statement said.
(businessinsider)
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