'I had to use the restroom': Delta passenger booted from plane
Another American airline has come under fire after Delta booted a passenger off his flight because he used the bathroom while the plane was taxing before take-off.
“I don't understand why I have to get off this plane. I mean, I had to use the restroom,” passenger Kima Hamilton was recorded saying in a mobile phone video.
“I'm not really clear why I’m being asked to leave this plane. I purchased this ticket. I had an emergency, I had to pee."
It happened on April 18 on a Delta flight from Atlanta, Georgia, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that was delayed for 30 minutes on the tarmac. When Hamilton asked a flight attendant for permission to use the bathroom, she said no.
But he finally couldn't hold it anymore and made a quick dash to the restroom to relieve himself. When he got back to his seat the pilot announced the flight was returning to the gate.
Hamilton was then told to get off the plane.
"It was an emergency and I was very clear about communicating that throughout the entire time," Hamilton, an art teacher from Milwaukee, told Inside Edition.
"We get off the plane and there are FBI agents waiting for me and after their investigation, the criminal side of everything was released and was dropped."
Cell phone video was shot by fellow passenger Krista Rosolino, who told Inside Edition that Hamilton “was very calm, respectful, simply wanted to have a conversation with them about why he wanted to use the restroom.”
When Hamilton wouldn't budge, another Delta staffer tried to explain that he was being kicked off the plane for using the bathroom.
“Basically, any time we are about to take off, for your safety and for everyone's safety, we need you seated, that's the bottom line,” a Delta employee said in the video.
But Forbes magazine travel editor Laura Begley Bloom told Inside Edition: "He broke the law. The FAA actually says that when the seatbelt sign is on, it is illegal to get out of your seat and walk around the plane. Even if you really have to go, you can’t do it."
In a statement, Delta Airlines said: "It is imperative that passengers comply with crew instructions during all phases of flight, especially at the critical points of takeoff and landing."
