Flight Attendant

WASHINGTON - The crowded US Airways flight from Paris to Charlotte, N.C., had just reached the northeastern tip of Canada when one of the passengers, a French citizen who was born in Cameroon, handed a flight attendant a cryptic note that said she had something hidden inside her body. Alarmed that the woman could be carrying a surgically implanted bomb, the crew notified authorities. U.S. f ighter jets were scrambled, and the pilot was told to make an emergency landing in Bangor, Maine.

WASHINGTON - The crowded US Airways flight from Paris to Charlotte, N.C., had just reached the northeastern tip of Canada when one of the passengers, a French citizen who was born in Cameroon, handed a flight attendant a cryptic note that said she had something hidden inside her body. Alarmed that the woman could be carrying a surgically implanted bomb, the crew notified authorities. U.S. f ighter jets were scrambled, and the pilot was told to make an emergency landing in Bangor, Maine.

How much would you pay to have an airline's chief executive hoist your carry-on into an overhead bin or fetch you a cold Diet Coke? Frontier Airlines top dog Bryan Bedford did just that working incognito as a flight attendant during his star turn on the TV reality show "Undercover Boss. " In his high-altitude role on sold-out flights between Denver and San Diego , he got to schmooze with passengers ("I was happy to be in the air, happy to be helpful") and suffer their frustration when the flight was late ("I suspect I may have been the reason for the delay")

In Catharine Hamm's column "Causing a Stink on the Airplane" [On the Spot, April 8] regarding the appropriate place on an airplane to change a baby's diaper, the issue of hygiene was not addressed. I am appalled that the cabin crew would permit a baby to be changed on a passenger seat. I, for one, would dread being the person on the next flight to sit there. After all, not only can you not avoid touching surfaces that most certainly have been contaminated, this is the place where you will be served refreshments or, on a long flight in business or first class, a full meal.

Who knew that the lone flight attendant on the first aerial hijacking of a U.S. passenger plane would be alive, well, and living in Manitowoc, Wis., 50 years later? And that she had hardly skipped a beat before returning to work? Evidently Inez McDermott is not easily intimidated. I gained a new appreciation for Midwestern stick-to-itiveness when I interviewed McDermott by phone while researching 50 years of aviation security for my story this Sunday in the Los Angeles Times Travel Section.

First class crooks Re " JetBlue flight attendant gaining support on Web," Aug. 11 The bankers and fund managers who caused the financial meltdown and subsequent bailout that will be harming the country for years to come are walking free and are basically unaffected by their gross negligence and corruption. Steven Slater, the JetBlue flight attendant who after 20 years of service with several airlines found his last straw with an obnoxious passenger, could face seven years in prison for his actions.

A groundswell of support grew Tuesday online and at office water coolers across America for a JetBlue flight attendant who pulled off one of the most dramatic "take this job and shove it" acts in recent memory. In fact, the new phrase for quitting a job in dramatic fashion just might be "sliding the chute. " After reportedly trying to deal with an unruly passenger on a parked aircraft Monday, JetBlue Airways Corp. flight attendant Steven Slater used the plane's intercom system to curse out the passenger.

As take-this-job-and-shove-it moments go, Steven Slater's was epic. After allegedly tussling with a passenger aboard a JetBlue flight that had just landed at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, the veteran flight attendant finally had enough. He commandeered the public address system, according to news accounts, hurled a few profanities, grabbed a beer (or beers), deployed the emergency chute and slid into infamy. That Slater was almost instantly considered a folk hero for his dramatic flame-out shouldn't be surprising.

A Florida judge declared a mistrial in a lawsuit brought against Philip Morris Cos. and other cigarette makers by a flight attendant who said he was harmed by secondhand smoke on the job. Trial Judge Fredricka Smith ended the second individual flight attendant trial against tobacco firms after American Airlines flight attendant Juan Queipo, 42, passed out in front of jurors for a second straight day, Philip Morris said.

A man who pleaded guilty to shoving a pregnant flight attendant on a United Airlines plane was sentenced in Denver to six months in prison. Montgomery Joe Carter, 37, of Gerrardstown, W.Va., also was ordered to pay more than $10,000 in restitution to the airline. Carter pleaded guilty in June to charges of interfering with a flight crew and assault aboard an aircraft. An FBI affidavit said Carter had begun drinking before the flight because he was afraid of flying.

Paging Samuel L. Jackson! No snakes this time, but authorities are grappling with the best way to handle bats on a plane. OK, just one bat. But still, it's not the type of thing one expects to read about in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a bulletin produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It may sound more like a movie than a true public health issue, but this report is indeed based on actual events. At 6:45 a.m. on Aug. 5, a flight took off from Madison, Wis., with 50 passengers, two pilots and one flight attendant on board.

A Jet Blue pilot who began ranting and acting erratically as his flight headed from New York to Las Vegas -- forcing the co-pilot to lock him out of the cockpit and make an emergency landing -- has been described as a seemingly content family man who once hoped to be an astronaut. Jet Blue identified the pilot as Clayton Osbon, who lives in Georgia but who maintains an apartment in the New York City borough of Queens because his flying base is New York. In a statement Tuesday night , it said that the captain of Flight 191 was receiving medical treatment.

Show of hands: How many think Alec Baldwin or anyone should be able to play electronic games while waiting on the runway? Poll Position , a polling and social media company, asked that very question Sunday via phone of 1,356 registered voters nationwide. The results: --44 percent said no --38 percent said yes--18 percent had no opinion But when you look at different age groups of people polled, responses differ greatly. Seventy percent of 18- to 29-year-olds said passengers should be allowed to play games while waiting to take off while 56 percent of respondents 65 and older said no. Baldwin was kicked off an American Airlines flight last Tuesday apparently because he refused to turn off his electronic device and stop playing Words With Friends.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Thursday. Lindsay Lohan's Playboy cover is out there for the world to see, just before the rest of Lindsay Lohan is out there for the world to see. ( Los Angeles Times ) Will Ryan Seacrest replace Matt Lauer on "Today"? ( Wall Street Journal ) "The Book of Mormon" is coming to L.A. in September 2012. ( Los Angeles Times ) Coldplay announced its first North American tour in nearly three years, including two dates at the Hollywood Bowl.

Steven Slater, the fed-up flight attendant whose spectacular exit down an emergency chute drew national attention, has been sentenced to a year of probation after completing year-long counseling and substance-abuse treatment . . . .   Runners will gather at the Grand Canyon South Rim on Nov. 12 for the Run on the Edge Grand Canyon Full Marathon , one of the most scenic and unusual marathons in the world. The course covers terrain over a mile high in elevation between 6,500 and 7,000 feet.  As of late Wednesday, 300 spots remained for the marathon and 600 for the half-marathon.  Register here . . . . Lake Tahoe's Homewood Mountain Resort has installed a child-safety system in its chair lifts that keeps kids in place with an electromagnetic seatback and corresponding magnetic vest.

Whitney Houston, I don't know exactly what happened on the Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta on Wednesday as you were en route to begin filming "Sparkle. " TMZ cites "multiple sources" (none named) who say you had a kerfuffle with members of the flight crew and refused to buckle your seat belt. Eventually, TMZ reports, a flight attendant buckled it for you. Really? OK, I'm not going to judge. But for everyone, celebrity or plebe, who might be unaware of the potential consequences of their behavior aboard a plane, consider this: It's illegal to interfere with the duties of an in-flight crew member.

Flight attendants told a congressional panel that although they were beaten and urinated on by passengers they got little help or support from their airlines. The testimony came at a hearing of the House Transportation Aviation Subcommittee, called to consider the plight of airline employees caught between passengers and the desire of airlines to avoid antagonizing customers.

Chris Clark first discovered the joy of hot rollers during a theater production of "Little Shop of Horrors" at Southern Utah University, where he had enrolled with the intention of becoming a Shakespearean actor. "Doing those big, '60s bouffant wigs was a total transformation," he said. "Once that roller went into my hand the first time, the acting was over. " The heated hair implements are a routine presence behind the scenes of "Pan Am," ABC's new period TV series about a group of high-flying stewardesses in the 1960s that premieres Sunday night, with Clark serving as hair department head.

Question: In an Aug. 7 column, you quoted a lawyer as saying you don't have an airline seat until you're sitting in it, so here's my question: I recently traveled round trip to Philadelphia on Southwest. On the return flight, just as the plane was ready to depart, a woman boarded with two children. First, the person near the window was asked to move to a middle seat, and later I was asked to move to a middle seat. I declined because I'm not comfortable in anything but an aisle seat.