The plane had just landed when the incident happened. The airline apologized in a statement.
Passengers on a recent American Airlines flight couldn't believe what they were hearing when a pilot got on the PA system and started rambling about his troubles, claiming he had been a sex addict who once had suicidal thoughts.
Fortunately, the plane was on the ground when the rant happened.
“I was raped or molested as a young boy and left to deal with it alone,” the pilot said. “I even started thinking of ways to end my life.”
It happened on board a flight from Washington, D.C. that had just landed in Chicago. The pilot was off-duty at the time, but somehow managed to get control of the PA system.
“Every aspect of my life was filled with lies,” the pilot said, during a rant that went on for three minutes. “My life spiraling out of control, I became a sexual addict.”
One passenger told the pilot to stop.
“I am sorry if you are uncomfortable. I just want you to hear me out,” the pilot continued.
In a statement, American Airlines confirmed the incident took place on June 15. The audio is only now coming to light.
The pilot "accessed the public address system upon landing and made troubling comments until a crew member could intervene. To our affected passengers, we apologize for your experience and what you heard does not reflect our values,” the statement said.
The airline identified the pilot as an employee of Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American.
“This was nothing more than a very, very public cry for help,” veteran pilot Steve Cowell told Inside Edition when asked to comment about what the Envoy Air pilot said.
Suicidal pilots are rare, but real.
In 1999, the pilot of EgyptAir 990 took 217 lives off the coast of Massachusetts.
And the lingering mystery of what happened to the Malaysian Airlines flight that disappeared in 2014 is believed to be a case of pilot murder-suicide, resulting in the loss of 239 lives.
In 2012, there was a wild scene on a JetBlue flight, when the pilot went on a rant and had to be subdued by passengers. His doctors claimed he suffered a brain seizure.
