John Rich Kicked Off Flight for Being Drunk
John Rich boarded a 10:50AM flight home to Nashville on Sunday but was reportedly declared too drunk to fly. Southwest Airlines personnel removed him from the plane and offered a later flight, but Rich chose to make his own travel arrangements.
TMZ reports that Rich was cooperative and acted calmly toward the crew, although he allegedly did get into an argument with a number of passengers before boarding the plane. In a statement to TMZ, Southwest acknowledged that there was an incident but didn’t confirm that it was the dark-haired half of Big and Rich at the center of it.
“Our crew assessed the situation and determined that the passenger was not fit for travel under governing federal aviation regulations,” the company said.
Rich was flying with a companion — it’s not clear if that was his wife Joan or someone else. It’s anyone’s guess as to whether Rich was hitting the booze early or just coming down from a wild Saturday night in Vegas.