Maria Castillo does NOT fly the friendly skies!
Charlotte, NC - You know, some people just don’t like to fly. Maria Esther Castillo, 45, is one of those people. Castillo, who is from New York, got herself arrested on Saturday when a United Airlines flight from Puerto Rico to Chicago had to be diverted to Charlotte to get Castillo off the plane. I guess that duct tape just wasn’t holding her down tight enough.
No, I’m not kidding. Maria Castillo got so out of control that the flight crew had to duct-tape her into her seat for part of the flight. Oh yes they did. And lest you get all upset with the flight crew, I’m gonna tell you what all Ms. Crankypants did to get herself into such a restraint.
First, she had a drink. Just one, to calm down, on the plane. Of course, she’d been drinking at the airport bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico, before she got on the plane, so she did not chill out and fly the friendly skies. Oh no. Instead, Castillo must also have found some other form of refreshment in her purse, because ninety minutes into the flight, the woman went batshit.
According to the FBI, Castillo started cursing at other travelers on the flight and began “invading the personal space of other passengers by touching and jabbing them.”
Next, Castillo decided she didn’t like the passenger sitting across the aisle from her. Castillo called the woman a bitch, and then hit her in the arm. When a flight attendant came by, Castillo slapped the attendant’s ass. Then she stood up and fell over the blind passenger in front of her and started to pull that woman’s hair. I know, right? How would you like to be blind on a plane and have this crazy nutbar mouthing off behind you, only to have her fall in your lap and try to yank your hair out of your scalp? I’d be annoyed.
The FBI affidavits say that Castillo would calm down, but go right back up just as quickly. At one point, she had a wet cloth that had been given to her to help her wipe her face and calm down, and she pitched it across the plane, hitting a passenger. She hurled insults at the people around her and wouldn’t respond to directions given in either English or Spanish, although she clearly could curse fluently in both languages.
Finally, the stressed-out flight crew used duct tape to keep Castillo restrained, and the pilot diverted the flight to Charlotte, which was the nearest airport.
Naturally, the second the pilot announced that the flight would be landing “to get rid of a disruptive passenger”, Castillo chilled right out. But only until airport police boarded the plane to remove her. Then she went all hell-hath-no-fury-like-a-woman-in-duct-tape again, kicking, hitting and spitting at officers.
Maria Esther Castillo is being held in Charlotte and is facing federal charges. She is charged with interfering with the operations of a flight crew and with resisting arrest. She’s got a detention hearing today and I won’t be surprised if they let her go home - I’m just kinda wondering how she’s gonna get there.