re: Widow: Southwest prevented me from calling my suicidal husband

quote:

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The text reached her just as flight crew were finishing cabin checks, but she said she knew the text was "serious" because her husband, who'd been very stressed recently, never threatened suicide before. She said that she told a male flight attendant what was happening and showed him the text messages.

"The steward slapped the phone down and said 'you have to put that in airplane mode. We were pushing away from the gate,'" Momsen-Evers recalls. The unidentified crew member explained that it was “FAA regulations.”

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I don't understand. They can tell you to put the phone on airplane mode, but they can't physically force you to.

The most they can do is ground the plane if you refuse. I would have called 911. The attendant can't do anything.