Missouri Doctor Lands In Prison After Flight

[Ban Hammer 13,344]

When Dr. Sivaprasad Madduri boarded a Southwest Airlines flight from St. Louis to Las Vegas, he never expected that he'd have a layover in prison.

"So the plane landed. It came to the gate. The doors open, and within a couple of minutes, two police officers, uniformed officers, they directly came to my seat and asked me to pick up my baggage and follow them," Madduri said.

For the last 30 years, Madduri, an Indian immigrant, has practiced medicine in a small town in Missouri, but in all his years as an American citizen, he said he never felt like an outsider until his arrest.

"It's a terrible experience," Madduri said.

The incident on that flight ended with Madduri arrested by the FBI, handcuffed and charged with a federal crime.

"You can't take chances," said Dean Headley, an expert on aviation trends at Wichita State University.

He said post Sept. 11, passengers have to be extremely cognizant about their demeanor aboard aircraft.

"Well I do think that 9/11 put a different level of sensitivity to any type of behavior inside a confined space and that confined space at 30,000 feet is very delicate and something you don't want to mess with," Headley said.

Because what you do in the air can have serious consequences on the ground.

# Drunk passenger interfered with the flight attendants. Threatened highjack. Broke cockpit door. Arrested on arrival. -FAA incident report #1990060802977

# Passenger tried to open emergency exit doors in-flight. Captain had to restrain. Arrested on arrival. - FAA incident report #1990052802381

These are just two of hundreds of thousands of entries in the FAA's accident and incident database.

Both of the cases ended in arrest, just like Madduri's, but Madduri wasn't drunk or verbally abusive. He was trying to use the bathroom.

"I tried to tell her I take a medicine, I have to go to bathroom," Madduri said.

Madduri was taking a prescription blood pressure medication that caused frequent urination.

"The only thing I remember is the air hostess shouted at me saying, 'You are not supposed to stand here, ' to stand here, and 'Go back to your seat,'" Madduri said.

She didn't explain why, Madduri said.

It turned out, as Madduri made his way from seat 6C to the front lavatory, the restroom was already in use by the plane's captain.

"At that time she did not tell me anything. I wish she had told me in a normal, regular voice that there is a pilot in the lavatory and you are not supposed to go according to federal law," Madduri said.

According to court documents, the flight attendant Lora Lee Minton said Madduri used his right shoulder and "physically pushed Minton out of the way. Minton found this contact to be offensive."

Madduri said he didn't push her.

"I tried to go to the aisle (a) second time after I got up, and the door was opening. At that time, I must have, my shoulder must have touched her, but I did not push her. I did not do that," Madduri said.

The flight attendant grabbed "his right hand, spun him around and physically pushed Madduri back to his seat."

"I was totally lost, flabbergasted. I didn't know what was going on," Madduri said.

Eventually, Madduri was allowed to use the restroom.

"A minute later, I raised my hand and asked if I can go now. She said, 'OK,' and I went to the bathroom and came back," Madduri said.

But that trip to the bathroom would cost him. Shortly after the flight landed, Las Vegas police boarded the plane and took Madduri into custody. He was handed over to the FBI and held overnight. Madduri was charged before a federal judge with assault.

Madduri said the federal prosecutor gave him a tough choice.

"The judge decided to let you go but you have to plead guilty and pay a fine of $2,500, and we will let you go and after that I told him, 'OK.' I wanted to get out. I was so frustrated," Madduri said.

Authorities said Madduri had violated a federal regulation that says: "no person may assault, threaten, intimidate, or interfere with a crewmember in the performance of the crewmember's duties aboard an aircraft ..."

"I was just trying to go to the bathroom. I was one of the passengers. I was not threatening her," Madduri said.

But many passengers may not realize that the people who serve the drinks and peanuts are actually considered the first line of safety in the air.

"The flight attendant and the captain are the rule keepers, and it is, I said, a federal environment," Headley said.

And flight attendants wield enormous power and authority over passengers when the flight doors close.

"They actually have unlimited authority," Headley said.

Kate Hanni is a California-based passenger rights activist.

"They have the ability to call federal agents and have them meet you at the gate and arrest you for whatever they deem as a threat," Hanni said.

The FAA declined a request for an on-camera interview but did say the regulation is deliberately broad in order to cover the large gamut of potential problems on a flight, including what they call "unruly passengers."

"There is absolutely no way to combat it. You have no rights as a passenger period! They are the ultimate authority. And they get to make all of these decisions subjectively because the law is written so broadly that doesn't constrain them at all as to what is wrong or right," Hanni said.

According to data collected by the FAA, last year action was taken against 147 passengers who were designated as "unruly."

Southwest Airlines initially accepted and then declined a request for an on-camera interview.

Instead they provided a statement in which they said, "Since Mr. Madduri repeatedly refused to follow in-flight instruction and initiated a physical altercation with one of our crewmember as she attempted to secure the cabin, we had no choice but to notify the local authorities for assistance upon arrival."

And despite pleading guilty and paying a fine of $2,500, Madduri's ordeal is not over yet.

Late last month a letter arrived in his mailbox, informing him that the FAA was considering an additional civil penalty of $5,000 for the incident.

"What strikes me as unfair about this is this is double jeopardy," Madduri said.

Sean O'Brien is a University of Missouri-Kansas City law professor and a member of the board of directors of the Midwest innocence project.

"This man has pled guilty to a charge. I'm sure he did it as a matter of convenience rather than go all the way back to Las Vegas to contest it. It was more convenient to pay the fine ... And here they hit him with what they call a civil penalty, but to me its clearly punitive. I think its intended as additional punishment for what he allegedly did," O'Brien said.

O'Brien calls the Madduri case an example of what happens when you sacrifice civil rights for security.

"Post 9/11 it's a different world than it used to be," O'Brien said. "There seems to be an over-reaction here, an application of government power that is way out of proportion to the underlying incident."

Madduri said, "I have been in this country for 30 years but I have not felt so bad as I did that night. I felt violated. My rights were violated. I did not know what was going on. I felt like I was in a strange place, a foreign country, even when we came 30 years ago I did not feel like this."

And what was even more surprising to Madduri was a letter he received from Southwest Airlines apologizing for what they called the bizarre incident involving the lady who caused the disruption.

Southwest claims the letter went out to Madduri by accident and that they also mixed up the gender of the "disruptive" person on the flight.

As for Madduri, he said he is considering taking legal action and intends to withdraw his guilty plea to clear his name.

link

link also contains a video.

[Heracles 417]

I have traveled on lot of airlines around the world and have to say the US has the worst and the oldest air hostesses. Many who are obviously very bitter. Once again, thank you unions for forcing airlines to keep these old bitter hags on flights. These same hags would have been fired yesterday if they worked for any airline abroad.

I think this should be the new slogan, "American Unions, bankrupting one American industry at a time".

Edited November 13, 2008 by Aficionado

[Nagishkaw 510]

I think he needs to take legal action, as he stated. This incident was just wrong.

[sara..... 371]

one time when we were coming home from over seas a man asked mom are all those kids urs........she stated well since i adopted them yes they are

he then got very loud and rude just answer the question are they ur children or not so she answered yes

turns out he was one of those air marshal's or something when we landed they took about an hour and a half running all the passports of the kids to make sure they were not being smuggled or something i guess.......

[Peikko 1,575]

Clearly BY has focused on the main point of the article - the ageing airline personel

[sara..... 371]

one time when we were coming home from over seas a man asked mom are all those kids urs........she stated well since i adopted them yes they are

he then got very loud and rude just answer the question are they ur children or not so she answered yes

turns out he was one of those air marshal's or something when we landed they took about an hour and a half running all the passports of the kids to make sure they were not being smuggled or something i guess.......

it seems to me since nine eleven the airlines have become a nightmare for a lot of reasons and that poor guy happened to end up with a person that needs schooling in people skills

[Ban Hammer 13,344]

Clearly BY has focused on the main point of the article - the ageing airline personel

agreed

(btw last night's news cast had a pic of the stewardess, she wasn't old, probably late 20's to early 30's)

eta: just found out the doctor is 65 years old, from Poplar Bluff , Missouri (southeast missouri), about 16,600 people.

Edited November 13, 2008 by charles!

[Niels Bohr 72]

It just so wrong. The flight attendants don't care about you when they smile. They are fakes.

[Ban Hammer 13,344]

Ironically, even before he filed his complaint with the Southwest Airlines officials, he got a letter from Frederick Taylor Jr, senior manager at the airline's customer service communications, offering a $100 voucher for a future flight.

"Sometimes, an explanation for the reason why things happen is not always possible, and the bizarre behaviour of the individual during your June 26 flight to Las Vegas supports this point," Taylor said in a letter accompanying the voucher. "While I am unable to explain the circumstances surrounding the disruption, I think it is important to offer my heartfelt apologies for any concerns you may have had as a result of this event".

"Naturally, we don't want this experience to affect your feelings about flying with us in the future, or for it to be your last recollection of traveling with our company. In fact we would consider it a privilege if you gave us another opportunity to provide you with better memories."

link

[*JG* 2]

I think he needs to take legal action, as he stated. This incident was just wrong.

I agree. I know it's a fine line they walk sometimes....I've seen some very gracious under pressures....but, that seems over the top.

Clearly BY has focused on the main point of the article - the ageing airline personel

agreed

(btw last night's news cast had a pic of the stewardess, she wasn't old, probably late 20's to early 30's)

eta: just found out the doctor is 65 years old, from Poplar Bluff , Missouri (southeast missouri), about 16,600 people.

So? what does his age and where he practices have to do with the article?

Never mind, I see you are probably tieing it in to where you live.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Did I mention Australia sucks?

[Ban Hammer 13,344]

Clearly BY has focused on the main point of the article - the ageing airline personel

agreed

(btw last night's news cast had a pic of the stewardess, she wasn't old, probably late 20's to early 30's)

eta: just found out the doctor is 65 years old, from Poplar Bluff , Missouri (southeast missouri), about 16,600 people.

So? what does his age and where he practices have to do with the article?

Never mind, I see you are probably tieing it in to where you live.

that and i seriously doubt a 65 year old guy can be considered much of a threat.

LoraLee Minton is supposedly on facebook, if anyone has an account there maybe they can dig up a pic of her?

[Heracles 417]

Did I mention Australia sucks?

Your pal Mags will ban be again, for a week, for a comment which is usually 1/10th as offensive of what you usually write.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Did I mention Australia sucks?

Your pal Mags will ban be again, for a week, for a comment which is usually 1/10th as offensive of what you usually write.

Australia still sucks.

[Heracles 417]

Clearly BY has focused on the main point of the article - the ageing airline personel

Well it has a lot to do with it. The US airline industry needs a complete overhaul. From the bottom up and especially in the area of attitude and costumer service.

I will give virgin America credit as they at least seem to be utilizing some international business practices on their service.

Australia still sucks.

Compared to where Jersey. Lets not even get started on that.

On the topic, Qantas has made more money over the past 8 years than all of the US airlines combined.