FELLOW passengers are the worst part of flying. It is never pleasant to sit next to someone who has body odour, who is snoring loudly or suffering from travel sickness. These are all well-established occupational hazards of going on a long-haul flight. What might be emblazoned on your neighbour's T-shirt seems a petty complaint in comparison.

But recently, a well-known quotation from an American film, "The Princess Bride" (1987) caused concern on a Qantas Airlines flight. The line—"My Name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die”—has been named in lists of the best movie moments of all time. Mandy Patinkin, an American actor who says the catch-phrase in the film, has claimed that it is quoted back at him by strangers on a daily basis. For the film's slightly nerdy fanbase, this quotation is harmless; it can be found on T-shirts and mugs. But as Stuff.co.nz reported last week, the line took on a different aspect when one of these T-shirts was worn by a fan on an aeroplane:

In hindsight, Mr Mullins says his T-shirt… may not have been the best clothing choice for a flight, but he believes the reaction of Qantas was over the top. "The flight attendant said to me: 'Are you able to remove it because some of the passengers are quite intimidated by it'. I thought it was all a bit silly… The flight attendant left in search of another T-shirt but never returned.”

Qantas says it has no record of the incident. It would not, given that the flight crew ended up letting the passenger keep his shirt on. But there is a line to be drawn about what constitutes a threatening message. The best response to other passengers' concerns about the T-shirt—and one that might even have left Qantas looking good—would have been to get on the intercom and explain exactly what the reference was. For good measure, the airline could have put the movie on the entertainment system. At least then, for once, a logo on a T-shirt might have served some purpose.