Travellers on a recent flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong were delayed for more than 30 minutes at the end of the runway after one of its business-class passengers found herself unable to comply with the simplest and most important of safety instructions.
According to in-flight sources, pilots spent the time explaining to the female passenger, who claimed she was someone important in risk management with a local Chinese bank, that using her mobile telephone during the flight could interfere with the electronic systems of the aircraft.
The woman was overheard to say that she always kept her phone switched on throughout a flight in case she should receive an important call, adding that it was perfectly safe as not a single plane she had flown on had ever crashed.
United we are not:
Staying in the air, brotherly love appeared to be in short supply on board a Cathay Pacific Airways' flight earlier this week from Melbourne to Hong Kong.
Industrial action by baggage handlers meant the plane was very late for take-off, a passenger said.