Soul Plane Actor Sues Airline After Getting His Pinky Stuck in an Armrest. Firefighters Had to Be Called

Actor Stephen Keys, known for appearing in the movie Soul Plane, flew on an American Airlines flight operated by SkyWest from Reno to Los Angeles on September 9th.

He got his pinky stuck in the armrest of his first class seat and it took “nearly an hour” to get dislodged, ultimately taking work from firefighters and a mechanic who took the arm rest apart to free him. Now he’s suing both American and SkyWest.

The mishap took place after he raised his armrest to reach for his seatbelt and his pinky got stuck in a small hole under the armrest, according to the suit.

His claim for damages suggests the incident was a “humiliating public spectacle” yet he chooses to draw national attention to the incident, turning it into a humiliating public spectacle, by filing this lawsuit.

Ironically the premise of Soul Plane is that a passenger has such a horrible flight — his dog has to be checked as baggage and is ultimately sucked through an engine, and his bum gets stuck in the lavatory toilet during turbulence — that he sues the airline and wins $100 million, enough to start his own competing carrier.

American Airlines should therefore argue that Stephen Keys is well aware of the risks of flying, and is in fact lucky it was only his pinky in the arm rest and not his bum in the toilet. That and the notion that this is a humiliating public spectacle and appearing in Soul Plane isn’t may be too much for any jury to bear.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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