April 25, 2008
Duct tape has many uses as you’ll know from jokes that have been hammered into the ground on a certain show set in a hunting lodge and based on the premise that men are, at the end of the day, basically stupid and that this observation contains enough material to mine for an eternity. In less family-friendly venues, duct-tape is most commonly used to seal the gobs of hostages to keep them from hollering for their freedom as they’re dumped into the trunk of a Cadillac. Your more sadistic baddies will let said hostage grow a moustache first, make sure that the tape covers it, and then, once in a soundproof room, inquire “What’s that you’re trying to say? I can’t quite hear you”, before ripping it off in one cruel tug and eliciting screams from the captive.
But duct-tape is not just for villains. It can be a tool for good as well, and just today was employed to restrain a troublemaker on a flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles. Details are sketchy so far, however what’s clear is that the passenger involved was putting some frequent flier miles on his liver when he decided perhaps that the drinks trolley was moving too slowly for his liking and went to attack a flight attendant.
About seven years ago or so something happened involving planes that makes doing anything of this sort while flying a really, really bad idea. Fellow passengers jumped in and came to the attendant’s assistance. Somebody was quick-thinking enough to produce duct tape, and we’re guessing that the better part of a roll of the stuff was used to make sure that the drunken lunatic would adhere to his seat, even if he wasn’t adhering to airline safety rules (that is your adhesion joke of the day).
An FBI spokeswoman says the Orange County man was arrested on suspicion of interfering with a flight crew when the United Airlines flight from Hong Kong landed in LA.
