Wednesday, January 23, 2013

T-Shirt Sparks Incident On Qantas Flight


Qantas passenger Wynand Mullins caused quite a stir on a Sunday evening flight from Australia to New Zealand when he wore an Inigo Montoya T-shirt from the 1980s cult film "The Princess Bride," according to New Zealand's Stuff magazine.


The popular name-tag shirt, which reads "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die," became a cause for alarm after several upset passengers expressed their unease with the T-shirt's message.


Before the flight took off, a flight attendant approached Mullins and asked if he could remove the shirt since other passengers were intimidated by it. However, Mullins did not have a spare in his carry-on.


"I was wondering where they would find a shirt for me, being on a plane and all," Mullins told the National Business Review online. "The thought did cross my mind that it would either be a blanket or the pilot's jacket."


After returning Mullins' boarding pass, the flight attendant did not return or broach the subject again during the flight.


"I thought it was all a bit silly," Mullins told Stuff. "The person next to me was laughing, because they knew the movie."


A representative for the airline confirmed to Stuff that there was no record of the incident -- meaning the situation was likely handled on board. (Click over to Stuff to read Qantas' statement)


While Qantas does not specify any onboard clothing standards on its website, the airline has been involved in past dress code incidents.


In 2007, Allen Jasson was barred from boarding a Qantas flight to London for wearing a T-shirt that depicted former president George W. Bush as a terrorist. At the time the airline reasoned that the shirt had the potential to offend other passengers.


Airline dress codes have been a hot topic recently since many airlines do not publish strict codes, but instead, enforce the rules when they deem a passenger's travel wear inappropriate, the Associated Press reports.


In May 2012, a woman was allegedly kicked off an American Airlines flight for wearing a shirt that read, "If I wanted the government in my womb, I'd f--k a senator." In June, a woman claimed she was kept off a Southwest flight for wearing an "inappropriate" dress that showed too much cleavage.


Watch "The Princess Bride" scene that provided the inspiration for the Inigo Montoya T-shirt below.



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