# Would They Ever "Turn The Airplane" Around? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 20, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693 "2010-04-20T00:56:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693/1 "2010-04-20T00:56:23Z")
I was watching an old episode of _the Bob Newhart Show_, where Bob has a support group for people afraid of flying. Emily tells Bob she is afraid of flying and joins his group. While in his group, Emily says that the first time she tried to fly, she made such a scene, she forced the airliner to “turn around” and taxi back and let her off. Of course Emily now gets on the plane with Bob and his group and, well you guessed it, Emily does the same thing. She creates a scene (which unfortantely doesn’t happen on screen) and the jet has to turn around and taxi back to the airport to let her off. My question is, would an airline ever do this in real life? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693/2 "2010-04-20T01:09:32Z")
Of course they would especially these days. Interfering with a flight crew is a criminal offense and they can’t take off if there are unruly passengers on board. The Bangor Maine International Airport has even made a minor business out of this issue by becoming the place for transatlantic planes to do a forced landing, detain, and start criminal procedures when they have unruly passengers aboard coming to the U.S. from Europe. It has happened several times already. The atmosphere at the time of that show is a different matter but I suppose it could have happened and it is very real today. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693/3 "2010-04-20T01:09:59Z")
If the passengers are being disruptive enough the plane will be diverted. I don’t know of any case where it was someone with a fear of flying that caused problems. But drunk belligerent people have caused flights to be diverted. The disruptive passenger tends to be handed over to police. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693/4 "2010-04-20T01:11:47Z")
This sort of thing happens all the time. Some (usually drunk) jamoke makes a commotion in the air, and they make an emergency landing so the cops can drag the idiot away. If the airplane is still on the ground when the commotion occurs, they will get the person off the plane as soon as possible. Whether that involves going back to the gate, or shoving the unruly passenger down one of those driveable staircases, or shoving them out the door without a staircase, is a matter left up to procedure and local custom. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693/5 "2010-04-20T01:42:05Z")
Planes turn around all the time, whether it’s on the tarmac, or well into the flight. There’s been a story floating around (possibly apocryphal, among my aviation friends and associates), about a Delta transpacific flight from LAX to Tokyo which turned around and returned to LAX because of some snafu with permission to enter a corner of Siberian airspace along their itenerary. Apparently this is not unusual, but this incident was particularly notorious because they were over 9 hours into a 14 hour flight and just turned around and went back home. Poor passengers. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693/6 "2010-04-20T01:56:31Z")
We had a local case where a guy and girl were convicted for having sex on a plane - in their seats, not in the bathroom. I think they tried to use a blanket to cover up. I don’t recall if the plane was diverted or not. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693/7 "2010-04-20T02:03:18Z")
I was on a plane going from Phoenix to Milwaukee, and it got turned around shortly after takeoff because two passengers in 1st class were fighting. But first we had to circle the airport for an hour to burn off excess fuel, so we didn’t land “heavy”. It was a long day… ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693/8 "2010-04-20T02:24:00Z")
I had a PanAm flight that I was on turn around because the plane was not fit to fly or some such thing. :eek: We returned to Delhi and it took two days before a replacement plane showed up from Karachi. That was of course near the end of PanAm. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693/9 "2010-04-20T03:49:31Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > We had a local case where a guy and girl were convicted for having sex on a plane - in their seats, not in the bathroom… _ **If you kids don’t stop that right now and stay on your side of the seat, I am going to turn right around and take you home, and don’t think I won’t! And no backtalk.** _ I’m a dad, as are many pilots. It comes naturally. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693/10 "2010-04-20T03:53:19Z")
_ **And I don’t care if all the other kids are doing it.** _ ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693/11 "2010-04-20T13:02:46Z")
To be fair, I suspect that these days you probably wouldn’t be taken back to the airport if the plane was still on the ground at the departure airport. Rather, the plane would taxi onto a jetway somewhere, and you’d be met by a stair car and some nice men & women driving other vehicles with flashing lights. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693/12 "2010-04-20T14:15:22Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I was on a plane going from Phoenix to Milwaukee, and it got turned around shortly after takeoff because two passengers in 1st class were fighting. One of them got the last osso buco, and the other was upset at having to settle for duck confit. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693/13 "2010-04-20T14:27:36Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > Planes turn around all the time, whether it’s on the tarmac, or well into the flight. There’s been a story floating around (possibly apocryphal, among my aviation friends and associates), about a Delta transpacific flight from LAX to Tokyo which turned around and returned to LAX because of some snafu with permission to enter a corner of Siberian airspace along their itenerary. Apparently this is not unusual, but this incident was particularly notorious because they were over 9 hours into a 14 hour flight and just turned around and went back home. Poor passengers. Are you sure? :eek: 18 hours of fuel onboard sounds like too much to believe… ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693/14 "2010-04-20T14:44:14Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > Planes turn around all the time, whether it’s on the tarmac, or well into the flight. There’s been a story floating around (possibly apocryphal, among my aviation friends and associates), about a Delta transpacific flight from LAX to Tokyo which turned around and returned to LAX because of some snafu with permission to enter a corner of Siberian airspace along their itenerary. Apparently this is not unusual, but this incident was particularly notorious because they were over 9 hours into a 14 hour flight and just turned around and went back home. Poor passengers. A [great circle route](http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gc?PATH=LAX-NRT%0D%0A&RANGE=&PATH-COLOR=red&PATH-UNITS=mi&PATH-MINIMUM=&SPEED-GROUND=&SPEED-UNITS=kts&RANGE-STYLE=best&RANGE-COLOR=navy&MAP-STYLE=) doesn’t come close to Siberia. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693/15 "2010-04-20T16:08:41Z")
But do you think they’d do it for fear? If somene said, as Emily did, she was too frightened to fly and was about to panic. In the orginal _Bob Newhart Show_ case Emily only made it where the plane was taxing to the runway. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693/16 "2010-04-20T22:14:19Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > While in his group, Emily says that the first time she tried to fly, she made such a scene, she forced the airliner to “turn around” and taxi back and let her off. … My question is, would an airline ever do this in real life? passenger: Are we there yet? Stewardess: No passenger: Are we there yet? Stewardess: No passenger: Are we there yet? Stewardess: No passenger: Are we there yet? Stewardess: I swear, if you keep doing that we’ll turn this plane around. passenger: Are we there yet? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693/17 "2010-04-20T23:06:43Z")
> [@cornflakes](#): > > A [great circle route](http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gc?PATH=LAX-NRT%0D%0A&RANGE=&PATH-COLOR=red&PATH-UNITS=mi&PATH-MINIMUM=&SPEED-GROUND=&SPEED-UNITS=kts&RANGE-STYLE=best&RANGE-COLOR=navy&MAP-STYLE=) doesn’t come close to Siberia. It may not have been LAX either. As I emphasized, it’s a secondhand story. Anyway, I know airliners don’t always follow great circle routes anyway. Seasonal jet streams play a large part in this. Depending on the time of year, from Atlanta to Tokyo we regularly shoot straight alongside Sakhalin Island which is definitely Russian airspace and not on a great circle route. ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693/18 "2010-04-21T01:08:00Z")
I was on an airplane that left the gate, sat on the runway for a couple hours, and then went back to the gate. It was scheduled for US cross-country and storms came up across the entire north-south in the midwest prohibiting our flight. They brought us back so we could get food. Eventually we reboarded and were cleared for takeoff. I’m sure this type of thing happens all the time. ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693/19 "2010-04-21T01:09:45Z")
> [@digs](#): > > _ **And I don’t care if all the other kids are doing it.** _ \*\*\*Dad; Stop arguing - now shut your mouths and eat your dinners! Kids; But Dad, how can.. Dad; You know what I mean!\*\*\* ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693/20 "2010-04-21T02:45:18Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > ## Quote: Originally Posted by Qadgop the Mercotan I was on a plane going from Phoenix to Milwaukee, and it got turned around shortly after takeoff because two passengers in 1st class were fighting. > > One of them got the last osso buco, and the other was upset at having to settle for duck confit. Umm, if it were me and my fellow Milwaukeeans heading home, we were fighting over the last Brats ‘N’ Sauerkraut. And the fact that the plane only had good beer, and we wanted Blatz or Schlitz. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-they-ever-turn-the-airplane-around/536693.md?page=2)