That's what you get for trying to save a buck

     O.K. cheapskates, there's a reason JetBlue offers lower fares than it's competitors, and it's not just because you're flying on a refurbished WW2 bomber that will be making 17 stops over the course of a 3 day hell hop from Boston to Cincinnati. Apparently they've found a way to pinch a few pennies when it comes to screening their employees as well, namely, their pilots.

      When JetBlue flight 191 departed New York en route to Las Vegas, it's 135 passengers probably weren't planning on spending their day in Amarillo being interrogated by the FBI--but that's exactly what happened. There's two facts the media are missing here, and to me it seems pretty obvious. The first is the means used to restrain the pilot, no seasoned JetBlue passenger would have to use a belt to hogtie this pilot, most have probably flown with this guy before, that being the case, they would have a set of handcuffs handy. The second is the fact that it was ever reported, no seasoned JetBlue passenger would jeopardize a 59 dollar fare because of a minor hiccup like this. These people aren't just the cheapest of the cheap, they're also the bravest of the brave, just because the captain exits the cockpit in a panic, screams there's a bomb on board, frantically searches for the said bomb in the lavatory before returning to the cockpit only to find out that he's been locked out by the co-pilot who had also commandeered a passenger to help him make an emergency landing, doesn't mean you have to go crying to the national news media (or the FBI,) that's how I know these were JetBlue newbies, not cut from the same cloth as the seasoned folks.

     Times are tough right now, and I fully understand that, but this is not unlike switching over to generic toilet paper, (I don't recommend that either, I'm just sayin) in either case you better know what the hell you're getting into, and at 35,000 feet, your biggest concern isn't just a raw ass. Don't be afraid to squeeze the Charmin, and if you can sneak into the cockpit, don't be afraid to see if the co-pilot has a straight jacket shoved up under his seat, just make sure you do it before takeoff.

      The other problem I have with this story is the "hero" designation being used for the passengers. In my opinion a hero is someone who unselfishly risks his her or her safety solely to benefit someone else. In this case you had a few passengers who restrained an individual out of necessity (or at least they believed that) for the sole purpose of saving their own ass (granted there were others involved, but I doubt these guys were thinking about that at the time.) To the news media and and the uninformed public you had a potentially deadly situation at 35,000 feet, while the seasoned JetBlue passenger could describe this entire situation in two words--drama queens.