Just read a killer article by Brendan Ross for Wired.

For those that don’t know, Brian is on assignment for Wired, flying all over on his JetBlue “All You Can Jet” pass and blogging about it. He seems to be having a pretty good time – or was.

Then sat next to “Shauna”.

Clearly, Shauna (fake name) was full of surprises. One of the first things she did was, inquire if Brendan was allegoric to dogs, as she proceeded to pull a pop-eyed little mutt out of her purse.

Then she insisted that Brendan entertain her for the whole trip (the TV wasn’t working); she also announced her bathroom visits to one and all (“I have to PEE!”); she also discussed her former career as a Hooters waitress.

My only objection to the article is that Brendan never asked me if I required an alias.

A man aboard a JetBlue flight from New York to New Orleans last February (just a few days before Mardi Gras) – threw a what appeared to be a drunken fit on the plane, and could face some heavy time. Like, 29 years. Plus a million dollar fine.

That’s because the drunk in question – alleged drunk – made the mistake of claiming to be an Air Marshal. That’s called, impersonating a federal officer. He also claimed to be an airline pilot, and who knows what else.

Flight attendants said the man was loud and disruptive, as well as threatening. And he used the “b” word, the one that rhymes with rich.

Nola.com reports that a trial date (in New York) has been set for August.

Two rules to live by: Don’t get drunk on a plane. Don’t show up drunk. Don’t be stupid. Okay, that’s three rules, big deal.

Sort of a she-said, she-said deal here.

The scene: A JetBlue plane from New York to Seattle, last November.

The action: A 69 year old Seattle area woman said she is the victim of racism and anti-Muslim bias because she was not allowed to stretch out on a row of empty seats and take a snooze – as others were allowed to do.

The JetBlue flight attendant said she could not stay in her row of choice because it was an exit row and the woman was handicapped by limited English and physical limitations – but according to the Seattle Times report she was offered other empty rows to recline in. The passenger, a native of Pakistan, does not address this issue in the article.

More charges – the woman claims she was manhandled by crew members as she was escorted back to her assigned seat – and the flight attendant says the woman bruised her by grabbing her arm. The passenger also was said to be “unruly” and yelled and screamed at one point.

Bottom line: I suspect the language barrier was the real problem here. But – is that an excuse?

Another great letter to The Consumerist:

“Recently when booking flights for a business trip, we didn’t know who the 4th person would be so we booked an extra ticket with my name on it.”

Okay, buddy — you just blew it. Right there. FAIL.

“I assumed there would likely be a fee and am not opposed to paying 50 to 100 dollars to change the name on the ticket. But JetBlue is telling us that the name cannot be changed…we would need to cancel the ticket and book a new one. This would cost us 800 dollars.”

He wants to know what to do. My question is, what kind of business person IS this? Does he only travel by train? How is it he doesn’t KNOW you cannot change ticket names? My DOG knows this, and he’s not the brightest hound in the herd.

You don’t change names. You just…don’t. As Consumerist pointed out, best he can do is cancel the ticket, pay the change fee, get the voucher and re-book.

See? Smoking is bad for your health, when you do it in an airplane bathroom.

Especially whenone of your fellow passengers doesn’t like it.

Seems a JetBlue flight from Boston to Ft. Lauderdale had to be diverted over the weekend, when some guy reportedly decided to light up in a lavatory.

What happened after that is a little murky, but a TSA spokesman said “one person was injured in the face by what may have been a punch” and said punchee had blood on his face.

Witnesses said this little dust-up involved two brothers – one of whom was soon arrested.

My goodness!

A 56-year old grandmother videotaped what was apparently some minor altercation between a couple of passengers (and thanks, Chris Elliott, for all the details).

Then, flight attendants asked her to delete it. She didn’t want to. She got arrested.

Sound nutty? Sure does to us. Makes us REALLY wonder what’s on that videotape. Oh, wait — we’re about to find out. Apparently Grandma is going to be on ABC sometime soon — with her tape.

Maybe the middle seat isn’t as bad as we all think it is. JetBlue passenger Gokhan Mutlu would have loved a middle seat. Instead, he claims he was forced by the airline to spend a large portion of his California to New York flight sitting on the toilet, and he’s now suing JetBlue for $2M.

Mutlu was flying on a “Buddy Pass,” and he was told that a flight attendant would give up her seat and sit in the jump seat, so Mutlu could fly. Mutlu claims, though, that about 90 minutes in he was told that the flight attendant was uncomfortable in the jump seat, and that she wanted her original seat back. Mutlu was also told that due to regulations he could not sit in the jump seat. The pilot came out of the cockpit and allegedly told Mutlu to “hang out in the bathroom.” A brief argument ensued, but Mutlu eventually ended up fighting turbulence on a toilet, no seatbelt in sight.

When I contacted JetBlue I was told the airline “does not comment on pending litigation.” On the surface, this seems like a horrible story with a pilot, flight attendant, and airline breaking FAA regulations and every unspoken customer service rule. However, it seems to me that we’re not quite getting the whole story, so I urge readers and passengers to reserve judgment until we know a little more. In the meantime, think twice before complaining about getting stuck in that middle seat. There are far worse places to spend a flight.

Visit the Chicago Tribune and the New York Post for more on this story.