I don’t usually cover these kinds of stories, but I have never seen anything quite like this…
A JetBlue crew’s wild report about passenger
ACARS (Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System) is the messaging system by which crews onboard aircraft can communicate with the operations folks at the airline on the ground. I’ve been meaning to write about the FlightDeck app, which lets the public see some of these messages, which are otherwise hard to access.
Well, a Reddit post flags one of the strangest ACARS messages that I’ve ever seen, which involves a redeye flight on March 27, 2026. Specifically, this happened on JetBlue flight B62858, from Phoenix (PHX) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL). I’ll let the message speak for itself (while removing commas):
PASSENGER IN 5C MINT IS MASTURBATING IN FLIGHT GAVE HIM A YELLOW TICKET HE IS A MOSAIC4 PLEASE INFORM BLUE WATCH ETC AND LET ME KNOW WHAT THE PROCEDURE WILL BE WHEN WE LAND I.E. POLICE OR SECURITY
I don’t even know what to make of this
A few thoughts and questions come to mind:
- Was this person just doing this out in the open, was there a lot of movement under the blanket, or how was this discovered on an overnight flight? For what it’s worth, 5C isn’t one of the solo “throne” seats, so this passenger had a seat mate
- He received a yellow ticket onboard, which is essentially a warning from the crew to cut out the behavior; it’s not clear based on the message whether the passenger stopped after receiving the warning
- With the class of service and elite status mentioned, one wonders if that may have factored into how this was handled on the ground; this passenger had JetBlue’s absolute highest elite tier, though last I checked, permission to masturbate is not an elite benefit (not even with the “Perks You Pick” concept)
I’m sure people will have conflicting takes as to how this kind of inflight activity should be handled. If a warning is issued and the passenger stops, should that be sufficient, with a note in their record (talk about an embarrassing note, though)? Or should the police still get involved, since this kind of activity in “public” isn’t appropriate under any circumstances.
Bottom line
A JetBlue crew sent an ACARS message to colleagues on the ground about a passenger’s behavior onboard a flight, while noting that he was in Mint, and a Mosaic 4 member. The crew reportedly issued him a yellow ticket (warning) onboard, and wanted to know whether police or security would meet the plane. Ouch to all of this.