Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Demand For More Beer Gets Deadly
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 21, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 21, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Newsday reports that an autopsy was found to be inconclusive as to why a man died on a flight from LA to NYC's JFK Airport. The man, 48 year-old William Lee, had been "forcibly restrained" after he angrily demanded a beer. American Airlines said Lee had ordered two beers and a vodka already, and Lee shouted at the attendants to be served immediately. When he was told he would not be served, he demanded to speak to "someone in charge," and alternated between calming down and getting angry again. It was when Lee shoved an attendant out of his way that seven male passengers ("possibly members of a rugby team from Australia or New Zealand") knocked him down to restrain him. When they landed in NYC to bring Lee to the police, they found he was unconscious and later died in a hospital.
This brings up the new social contract on airplanes that most everyone is aware of: You don't rock the boat or else you get rocked yourself. As satirized mere interrogations of flight attendants have been in Anger Management, Gothamist has to say the most powerful threats made by an airline were the words "If you get up during this 90 minute flight, we're turning this plane around." Of course that can't work for longer flights, but some sort of similar implication could be possible.
Tagged
airport
american airlines
anger management
As
gothamist
hospital
JFK
jfk airport
la
new zealand
News: NYC
nyc
plane
police
The Police
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Queens man charged with hate crime at Jewish-owned bagel shop displaying Israeli flags
Prosecutors say the 22-year-old damaged property outside the Fresh Meadows shop twice in May.
By
Giulia Heyward
Published Oct 19, 2026 at 6:07 p.m. ET
MTA train yards are in such bad shape plants are growing out of the roof, watchdog says
In some cases, the damage was “clearly not recent."
By
Stephen Nessen
News
MTA train yards are in such bad shape plants are growing out of the roof, watchdog says
In some cases, the damage was “clearly not recent."
By
Stephen Nessen
High-ranking NYC officials to testify in ex-buildings boss Eric Ulrich's corruption trial
By
David Brand
Mamdani launches new team to help NYers keep SNAP, Medicaid benefits
By
Caroline Lewis
Riders at 53rd St. station where man was fatally shot say they worry about gun violence
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .