[Whitfield:] American Airlines is apologizing for a scary incident aboard one of its flights. It happened yesterday as the plane was taxiing down the runway a flight attendant grabbed the loud speaker and then went into a tirade. She said the plane was going to crash. A passenger caught it all on tape.
[Unidentified Male:] I think it's crowded and
[Whitfield:] So other passengers and a crew member were able to restrain the attendant. A woman on that flight described what it was like.
[Laurie Grabe, Witnessed Disruptive Flight Attendant:] In the beginning it was just, it seemed like it was an accident and she was maybe a little disgruntled with her job. I just remember thinking "Wow, she's not happy" and another stewardess saying "You need to shut that off. Don't talk like that on the PA" and then when she started talking about, you know, turning the plane around. Then the plane's not going anywhere unless everybody sits down. And everybody was sitting. So very confused. We were all very confused on what was going on and obviously realized that she was having some kind of issue within herself.
[Whitfield:] So American Airlines says both the attendant and another crew member who restrained that flight attendant were taken to the hospital. The airlines say it is continuing to investigate. All right. So joining us to talk more about this, someone who knows the job quite well. Flight attendant Rene Foss. She's also the author of "Around the World in a Bad Mood Confessions of a Flight Attendant." You've written about flying from a flight attendant's perspective. So give me an idea. What kind of frustrations and is this kind of incident is it your view. Is this an anomaly or just kind of underscore there other frustrations or encounters that flight attendants have? RENE FOSS, FLIGHT ATTENDANT AND AUTHOR Well, that's some that passengers onboard kind of jumped into action tells you what about kind of the climate of how passengers, particularly post-911, how passengers are very intuitive, are paying attention to surroundings and willing to jump in. Even if they don't fully understand all that's taking place. Do you feel like that climate is pretty prevalent on just about any flight, domestically or abroad these days.
[Foss:] I do. I think passengers as well as crew members realize that, you know, this particular incident took place on the ground, but in the air, and on an airplane, the research is there. It's like if you're at 39,000 feet, you can't call 911. I mean, so people do need to recognize that we all need to kind of work together to handle a situation, or respond to a situation like that.
[Whitfield:] And there was a statement
[Foss:] That's a good thing.
[Whitfield:] Yes. And there was a statement that's been released by American Airlines, I want to be able to share that with everyone. Saying this, in part "Flight 2332 had left the gate at DFW bound for Chicago when an incident occurred involving some of the cabin crew. The aircraft returned to the gate where it was met by Department of Public Safety officers. Two flight attendants taken to local hospitals for treatment. We continue to investigate the details and circumstances and will have no further comment at this time." We did hear, k, reportedly from some of those onboard that they thought they overheard some detail about medication being involved, or the flight attendant perhaps not having access to the medication. So we don't have any confirmation of that, but that was reported earlier. So what's your view, Rene, on how the airline thus far has been able to handle this? How do the passengers in your view handle this?
[Foss:] Well, from what I can, from my perspective, I think it's been handled as well as it can be handled. It's an unfortunate situation. Clearly, the girl, the flight attendant, is suffering, and I think the airline is doing the best that they can do. I think the passengers responded, you know, appropriately from what I can gather. I wasn't there to actually see this. And you know, it's like I said. When you think about how many planes take off and land every day in the world, or just even in America, in our own country, and how few incidents there really are, this is still a safe way to go and it's sort of the thing where a person is unhappy in the workplace. It's just not, it's not unique to airlines. I mean you hear about work issues at the hospital, the post office, it can be
[Whitfield:] All right. Still unclear exactly.
[Foss:] ... in an airport or an airplane, everyone pass through a metal detector.
[Whitfield:] All right. We're still not clear exactly sorry I cut you off, Rene. But still unclear what the root of what really happened there. Again, American Airlines saying they are launching that investigation and they're still in the midst of it. So Rene Foss, thanks so much, author of "Around the World in a Bad Mood Confessions of a Flight Attendant." Thanks for your time and perspective. All right. Millions of people are going on job interviews. But what you do after the interview could actually get you hired. Five things you need to know. Next in our "Reclaim your Career" segment.