Plane Passenger’s MacBook Screen Destroyed After Person In Front Reclines

Pat Cassidy/Twitter

A plane passenger had their MacBook completely destroyed after the person in front reclined their seat and crushed the screen. 

Pat Cassidy was on a trip with Delta Airlines when he lowered his tray table and placed his laptop on it, presumably thinking it would be a perfectly safe place to put the expensive piece of equipment as he kept himself busy during the flight.

Unfortunately he soon learned that was not the case, and by the time the plane touched back down on Earth his MacBook screen was mostly black, with only a small, pixelated portion of his desktop still visible.

Pat took to Twitter write about the unfortunate incident, and took the opportunity to offer advice as to how Delta could avoid similar situations in the future.

He wrote:

@Delta small note for the suggestion box, maybe have a little warning sign or someway to prevent my laptop from being destroyed when the person in front of me reclines their seat.

Pixabay

According to the disgruntled passenger, a Delta flight attendant actually came over and pointed out the person in front ‘needs to be able to recline’ – as if it weren’t the plane’s seat design that caused the incident in the first place.

Pat continued:

[The flight attendant] then asked [the passenger in front] “if he was okay?” as if your seat hadn’t just ruined my livelihood

The frustrated Twitter user continued to use the social media site to air his grievances, as he sarcastically asked the airline how many ‘SkyMiles’ it would cost him as a ‘Silver Medallion Member’ to get a new MacBook Pro.

He later emphasised the fact he had been left having to rely solely on his phone, writing:

@Delta let me know who I can email about this? You’ll know it’s me because the bottom of the email will read “sent from my iPhone”

The airline responded to Pat’s tweets, asking him to write in to have someone evaluate the damage. Delta also offered an apology for Pat’s unfortunate experience and asked him to get in touch via direct message.

This isn’t the first time a MacBook has fallen victim to a reclining plane seat, as in October 2019 passenger Jud MacKrill had his laptop screen destroyed in the same way.

Jud was able to replace his laptop as he had it covered with Apple Care, but it’s unclear whether Pat is in the same position.

Jud Mackrill/Twitter

Pat’s tweets have received a lot of attention, with some social media users speculating whether he brought an already-broken laptop on board and photographed it later in order to trick the airline into paying for a new MacBook. However, as the same thing has happened before, it seems likely Pat is telling the truth.

The Delta passenger has since received an email from the airline, stating ‘personal property damaged in-flight as a result of passenger action is not reimbursable’, though as a ‘goodwill gesture’ Delta added 7,500 bonus miles to the customer’s SkyMiles account – an offering Pat claimed was the ‘equivalent of a $75 gift card’.

Pat’s experience is definitely one to learn from; the moral of the story is not to trust plane tray tables! Hopefully Pat will be able to replace his laptop without too much hassle.

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Emily Brown

Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.