Jim Stingl

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The way Kima Hamilton sees it, his urgent need to visit the restroom as a Milwaukee-bound Delta jet awaited takeoff was a misunderstanding blown all out of proportion.

In fellow passenger Krista Rosolino's view, it was outrageous that Hamilton was kicked off the flight and that everyone else was forced to exit the plane when it returned to the gate in Atlanta. She took to social media to defend this man she didn't know.

The Delta Air Lines quick take on this incident is that federal law requires passengers to comply with crew instructions, or run the risk of being seen as a security threat. A spokesman promised to get back to me Tuesday with a more detailed response but did not.

(Update: Delta sent the following statement Wednesday: "Our flight crews are extensively trained to ensure the safety and security of all customers. It is imperative that passengers comply with crew instructions during all phases of flight, especially at the critical points of takeoff and landing.")

The drama on jetliners these days rivals anything on television. A doctor was physically dragged off a United Airlines plane in Chicago this month when he refused to give up his seat to make room for airline staff on the crowded flight. And a confrontation erupted on an American Airlines jet Friday in San Francisco after a flight attendant yanked a stroller away from a passenger and her baby.

Both incidents were captured on video, as were the attempts by two Delta agents to eject Hamilton from the plane. When he refused, the entire aircraft was emptied and all passengers except Hamilton were allowed to re-board a short time later.

The story begins mid-afternoon of April 18 aboard Delta Flight 2035 from Atlanta to Milwaukee. The plane was pretty full. Hamilton was traveling alone. Krista Rosolino and her husband, Mike, both lawyers in Milwaukee, were sitting with their infant daughter across the aisle from him.

The plane taxied to the runway and the passengers were told it was third in line to take off. This is a time when you're supposed to remain seated. But the wait extended to about 30 minutes, Krista Rosolino estimates.

Hamilton felt a strong need to urinate and figured it might be OK. "We weren't taking off. We were still. The plane isn't moving," he said.

I asked Hamilton why he hadn't used a restroom earlier. "I don't normally pee right before I get on the plane, and I've never had a problem like this before. I don't remember drinking an abnormal amount of water," he said.

He walked to a restroom at the rear of the plane. A flight attendant there said if he used the restroom they would lose their place in line. So he sat back down, but the urgency grew stronger. Hamilton returned to the restroom and this time went in and quickly did his business. It beats making a mess right there in your seat, right?

"The pilot came on and said, 'Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry for the inconvenience but we have to return to the gate and remove a passenger,' " Hamilton said. "It escalated to that point that fast."

Two Delta agents, first one and then another, approached Hamilton and told him to get his things and exit the plane. He knew they wouldn't let him back on, so he refused. Hamilton, 39, a DJ and a poet who moved to Milwaukee a year ago, is an artist in residence at an MPS school, and he needed to be home the following morning for a field trip.

The Rosolinos and other passengers whipped out their phones and took video of the encounters. Soon everyone was escorted off the plane. Hamilton said he felt his attempts to explain himself were futile.

"It was already understood and decided that I was a problem and I was getting kicked off the plane. When I exited there were FBI agents waiting for me with Delta personnel," he said, adding how thankful he was that Mike Rosolino stood by his side throughout.

Hamilton had remained calm both on the airplane and during questioning at the terminal. He thinks that saved him from getting arrested for causing a disturbance or interfering with the flight. Delta refunded part of his ticket cost and left him to find his own way home.

They said his checked luggage would be waiting for him in Milwaukee. He bought a walk-up ticket on a Southwest Airlines flight, at a cost of three times the refund he had received, and arrived home about 11 that night, several hours later than he had planned.

All of that because he had to pee, and because airline rules sometimes miss the point of common sense. A passenger from a different Delta flight told Krista Rosolino two passengers needed to use the restroom while the plane prepared to taxi, and in that case the flight attendant simply told the pilots to wait until they were done.

Hamilton says he was feeling the micro-aggression he sometimes experiences as a 6-foot-3-inch black man with dreadlocks. He has become accustomed to working through it as best he can. Krista Rosolino, in her lengthy open letter to Delta on Facebook, questioned if the color of Hamilton's skin led the airline to mistrust him. She swears never to fly Delta again.

Other passengers were sympathetic toward Hamilton. When everyone was forced to leave the plane, some talked about staying put in a show of solidarity. Hamilton apologized to a man sitting next to him for the inconvenience.

"You did nothing wrong," the man replied.

Contact Jim Stingl at (414) 224-2017 or jstingl@jrn.com. Connect with my public page at Facebook.com/Journalist.Jim.Stingl