Smoking recreational marijuana may be legal within the state of California, but the law is only good when you are much closer to the ground and not 30,000 feet in the air on a Southwest flight.
Southwest Airlines said a passenger on-board Flight 1250 from San Francisco to Los Angeles tried to get high in the airplane's bathroom a mile high in the sky. The plane was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after take-off at San Jose Mineta International Airport, located about 50 miles south of San Francisco.
The passenger accused of lighting up in the airplane lavatory was promptly handed over to police, while the other 32 passengers on-board were forced to deplane and take other flights to finish their trip.
“It looked like that someone needed to smoke a joint on a plane, and he went into the bathroom, smoked his blunt, and set off the fire alarm,” passenger Jonathan Burkes told CBS Los Angeles.
Any kind of smoking, including vaping and marijuana are illegal on-board airplanes and could lead to criminal charges being filed against the passenger.
The flight later completed its trip, finally landing in Burbank Wednesday evening, a statement from Southwest said.
"Southwest Airlines flight 1250 with scheduled service from San Francisco to Los Angeles landed safely after diverting to San Jose following indications a Customer was allegedly smoking in the aft lavatory. The flight landed without incident where it was met by local law enforcement, and the Customer in question was turned over to local authorities. Our Employees in San Jose worked hard to accommodate the remaining 32 Customers on other aircraft to continue their journeys."
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