• Passenger fired after allegedly using racial slur, hitting child during flight

    Kootenai County Sheriff, file

    Joe Hundley was charged with assault after allegedly hitting a 19-month-old boy who had started to cry aboard a Delta flight.

    By Alastair Jamieson, Staff writer, NBC News

    A man accused of uttering a racial slur and slapping another passenger's crying toddler during a flight has been fired in the wake of the alleged incident.

    Joe Hundley, 60, from Hayden, Idaho, was charged with assault after he allegedly hit the 19-month-old boy who had started to cry during the airplane’s descent, NBC station KARE reported.

    According to court documents, the child’s mother Jessica Bennett alleges Hundley leaned over and said, "Shut that [N-word] baby up!" before slapping the child. This caused him to bleed and cry even harder, his mother told KARE.

    'Offensive and disturbing'
    The Boise Weekly reported that Bennett's story was supported by another passenger who was aboard the Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis to Atlanta on Feb. 8. That could not be independently confirmed by NBC News.

    Hundley is no longer working for Idaho-based aircraft component manufacturer, Unitech, its parent company AGC Aerospace and Defense said in a statement on its website Sunday:

    “Reports of the recent behavior of one of our business unit executives while on personal travel are offensive and disturbing. We have taken this matter very seriously and worked diligently to examine it since learning of the matter on Friday afternoon. As of Sunday, the executive is no longer employed with the company.

    “We wish to emphasize that the behavior that has been described is contradictory to our values, embarrassing and does not in any way reflect the patriotic character of the men and women of diverse backgrounds who work tirelessly in our business.”

    In an interview with KARE, Bennett said Hundley appeared intoxicated, accusing him of becoming increasingly obnoxious during the flight.

    "He reeked of alcohol," Bennett said.  "He was belligerent and I was uncomfortable."

    Hundley's attorney, Marcia Shein of Atlanta, has said that her client will plead not guilty to the charge.

    Shein told Reuters that she has received hate mail over her defense of Hundley, but added that she believes her client has been misunderstood.

    "He is not a racist," Shein said. "I'm going to make that real clear because that's what people are suggesting."

    "There's background information people don't know about, and in time it will come out," she said.

    The Spokesman-Review newspaper of Spokane, Wash., reported that Hundley had denied the allegations.

    “I can only say it’s an absolute falsehood,” the Spokesman-Review quoted Hundley as saying. 

     

  • Flight diverted after Alaska Airlines pilot passes out

    Alaska Airlines flight 473 was traveling from L.A. to Seattle when its pilot suddenly became unconscious. The first officer took over the controls and landed safely in Portland, Ore., where the pilot was taken to the hospital. NBC's Tom Costello reports.

    By Alastair Jamieson, Staff writer, NBC News

    A flight from Los Angeles to Seattle was diverted to Portland late Thursday after one of the pilots lost consciousness.


    Alaska Airlines said Flight 473's first officer flew the Boeing 737-700 to Portland International Airport after the captain became ill over Oregon.

    The plane landed safely at 9:05 p.m. local time (12:05 a.m. ET Friday) and paramedics took the pilot to the hospital, airline spokesman Paul McElroy said.

    The Seattle Times reported that a doctor on board was able to tend to the captain at the front of the plane.

    There were 116 passengers and five crew members on the flight, which had been due to arrive in Seattle at 9:30 p.m. local time (12.30 a.m. ET).

    The captain has been flying with Alaska Airlines for 28 years, while the first officer has been with the airline 11 years, McElroy said.

    NBC station KING5 said it was not known what caused the pilot to pass out.

    About 20 passengers were re-accommodated on other flights to Seattle, while the rest took a flight scheduled to land in Seattle at 1:15 a.m. local time Friday (4:15 a.m. ET).

    Related:

    Full travel coverage from NBC News

  • 78 Air Force Academy cadets accused of cheating on math test

    By Sevil Omer, NBC News

    At least 78 Air Force Academy cadets are accused of cheating on an online calculus test by getting help during the exam from a website, academy officials in Colorado say.


    Academy officials said the cadets, mostly freshmen and a few sophomores, used an website math program meant to be used for homework, not the final exam.

    Instructors in the academy's math department grew suspicious after a number of cadets who had passed previous tests failed the final exam, according to The Colorado Springs Gazette in Colorado Springs, Colo.

    "They had such a large number who had such poor scores, they said, 'How can this be?'" The Associated Press quoted Lt. Col. John Bryan, the academy's director of public affairs, as saying.

    Most of the 78 cadets admitted to cheating on the test and have started a six-month remediation program, a type of academic probation, Bryan said.

    Bryan told The Gazette that he did not know how many cadets have been ordered to take the remediation program. Some, he said, are still awaiting their turn before an honor board.

    If a cadet denies cheating but academy officials determine otherwise, the cadet could be expelled, he said.

    According to The Cadet Honor Code, a cadet "will not lie, steal, or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does." Penalties for violating the code range from probation to expulsion.

    "It is possible to have disenrollments," Bryan told The Gazette.

    Bryan said there was no evidence of collusion.

    “Every case is individual, and every case is different," Bryan told The Gazette. "We want to give these kids a learning environment and a chance to succeed.”

    Bryan said about 650 cadets took the exam on their own, outside the classroom and without supervision in late April, The Gazette reported.

    The Associated Press reports past cheating scandals at the military school:

    In 2007, 15 cadets were expelled and three resigned for cheating on a test of general knowledge about the Air Force, and 13 others were placed on probation. Cadets had forwarded test answers through an Internet social group and private computer messages, according to the academy.

    In 2004, 69 cadets were questioned about cheating on a military etiquette test. Nineteen either acknowledged cheating or were found guilty by an honor board and were expelled or put on probation. Seven other cadets resigned, and 43 were cleared.

    The Air Force Academy has more than 4,000 cadets.

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