The dog was in his crate, and got anxious; his owner tried to comfort him, and let him out of the crate, accidentally or not. So the anxious, terrified dog bit a passenger and a flight attendant. And consequently the pilot of Newark-Phoenix U.S. Airways Flight 522 landed in Pittsburg, booted out the senior citizen and neurotic little Toto too, and flew the rest of the way to Phoenix.

And the senior citizen and the little dog took another flight from Pittsburg to Phoenix. No word if it was on U.S. Airways or not.

George’s Point of View

If Solomon had been on that flight, what would he have done?

Threaten to cut the eight pound dog in thirds? I can see it now, as he is posed with a plane-legal 10th century BC weapon, ready to divide the dog into thirds, to the horror of the dog’s owner. Given the mindset of most contemporary Americans, rather than being upset, the bitten attendant and passenger would likely both have their hand out, even after getting their share of dog. However, possibly not, since only a diehard dog lover would try to handle an angry chihuahua (or whatever the little canine is.) Let’s hope for the owner’s sake that the injured comrades-in-travel were forgiving dog lovers.

And also, let’s hope that Fido, Rover, Toto (or whatever his name is) stays home instead of going on the next trip.

The thing that I don’t understand these days is the suspension of common sense. How many thousands of dollars in fuel and expenses did that diversion to Pittsburg cost? Was it really essential to make an emergency landing to strand a senior citizen and pet in Pittsburg? How serious were the bites? There’s no mention of a medical emergency.

Let’s hope no charges are filed.