A dad claims that an innocent photo he took of his family boarding a plane resulting in them being kicked off the flight.
Jimmy Mitchell’s quick vacation snap quickly turned in a headache on April 3, 2024, when he, his wife Pauline, and their two children, were walking up a set of outdoor stairs to a Jetstar jet bound for Brisbane.
Keen to mark the occasion before they embarked on the connecting flight, the well-traveled Australian raised his phone, clicked, and without realizing, ignited a confrontation he would later brand ‘one of the most traumatic experiences’ of his years in the air.
Later, he took to TikTok and said: “This is the worst experience I’ve ever had flying.”
Mitchell claims a cabin crew member spotted the photo‑op, marched over, and punctured the family’s excitement by labelling him an ‘idiot.’
He remembers freezing mid‑stair, stunned that a simple snapshot had drawn such a reaction.
In a now-viral clip, he said: “I try and get on the plane, I take a photo of my kids … and the lady calls me an idiot,” adding that the staffer repeated: “You can’t take photos on the tarmac, you can’t take photos on the tarmac.”
As Mitchell was wearing noise-canceling headphones, he hadn’t heard that an announcement had been made to passengers, explaining that they couldn’t use phones on the tarmac because the plane was refueling, per the New York Post.
There was, he insists, neither signage nor ground staff gesturing for travelers to keep electronics pocketed.
The dad shared that when the cabin crew member tried to get his attention for him to put the device away, it left him humiliated and shocked.
“I turned around in disbelief because I was halfway up the stairs at this point. I basically stormed over to her and I was like, ‘Are you serious? What did you just call me?” Mitchell recounted.
“She was basically saying ‘you can’t take photos on the tarmac, you can’t take photos on the tarmac.”
The dad said he challenged the attendant over the insult, only to be informed he would not be permitted to board.
“If she had literally just said anything else, like ‘get off your phone,’ I would have done it,” he continued.
“Apparently, they made an announcement, but I had noise cancelling headphones, Pauline (wife) told me after the fact – I didn’t hear it, there was no notifications about it, there was no signage, no nothing.
“All she had to do was say something constructive. ‘Get off your phone, you can’t have your phone out’ and I would have been like ‘sorry,’ but she screams across the tarmac calling me an idiot.”
When Mitchell protested, she allegedly ‘threatened’ that police would be waiting for him.
Taken aback by the situation, the dad made his way back to the terminal until airline supervisors reversed the decision.
Back in the concourse, passports and boarding cards were trapped with Pauline on the aircraft.
Mitchell claimed that the ground personnel had barred him from explaining the delay to his family, stating: “The way they treated Pauline and the kids and not allowing me to communicate with them what was going on, was completely unacceptable.”
The dad eventually found his seat ‘after cooler heads prevailed,’ though the adrenaline left him trembling and, by his admission: “Almost reduced to tears because it was that embarrassing.”
He added: “It’s one thing that she was completely out of line for calling me an idiot, I can get over that I am a big boy – and you’re probably sitting there going ‘he’s a sook’ and ‘he shouldn’t have reacted that way’ – but next time someone you’re supposed to be a customer of calls you an idiot … you tell me next time how you would react in that situation..”
Jetstar has since opened an internal inquiry.
A spokesperson told News.com.au: “All our customers and team members have the right to feel respected when flying with us or when at work and we’re looking into what took place in this instance.”
