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Man charged with smashing bag in face of Logan worker after she tells him it's too large to take onboard

Man with bag about to attack. Photo via State Police.

A Carlisle man who arrived at Logan Airport for a flight to Denver departed in the back of a State Police cruiser after police say he smashed a 74-year-old security worker in the face when told he'd have to check his back.

State Police report Eric Brandhorst, 53, of Carlisle, was arraigned yesterday in East Boston District Court on a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person age 60 or older.

Brandhorst was released on his own recognizance but ordered to stay away from Logan while his case is pending, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

State Police said Brandhorst went into bag rage around 6:20 a.m. at a Terminal B checkpoint - apparently unaware a trooper was standing roughly 10 feet away:

Trooper [Dana] Cresta was patrolling the terminal when he observed the security worker speaking to a man - later identified as Brandhorst - who was kneeling next to his backpack, which was too large to fit inside a guide rack for appropriately-sized carry-on luggage. Brandhorst then stood up and asked where he had to go; the security worker pointed toward the United Airlines baggage check area.

Suddenly, and with no further conversation, the approximately 6-foot, 200-pound Brandhorst swung the backpack with both hands from his right shoulder into the left side of the victim’s face, knocking her down.

State Police report the victim was transported to Mass. General for observation. Police say she

[W]as observed to have bruising around her left eye and the left side of her face from the impact of the backpack, and reported pain in her hip, knee, and shoulder caused by her hitting the floor.

Innocent, etc.

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Comments

There sure is no lack of mental illness around here

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Traveler rage? What a horrible thing to do.

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add that name to the no fly list...let Eric enjoy Greyhound for the rest of his life.

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Totally.

On a larger, "people suck" note, what is wrong with people who feel that it's appropriate to respond in a violent rage to any kind of mildly inconveniencing request? I'm thinking about the assaults on T drivers lately.

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53,lives in Carlisle, likes to track his bicycling online and he's a big mucky muck at State Street Global Advisors. Oh,yeah this guy is one of the privileged. Or he used to be. Good luck staying in the one percent when your ass is grounded,douchebag.

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... is so full of rage.

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... how large a bag is too large a bag if he flies for business on a routine basis.

I'm not the only one who carries a tape measure to make it clear when their eyes are larger than their official requirements ... or to know for sure when I'm pushing how much I can stuff in a carry on.

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The sense of entitlement is off the charts with this guy. Not only does he think he's above the rules that everyone else is required to follow, but he thinks the solution to his problem is to punch a woman in the face. What's his excuse? He was aggravated. Family, friends and co-workers take note. Disgusting.

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But I will say that posting agents outside of security—often agents who aren't TSA but rather from the airline—rubs me the wrong way. They are basically trying to enforce the fees they put in to place to check your bag. Here's the thing: the checkpoints are manned by TSA personnel and if the person in question is an airline employee, they have no jurisdiction in this regard. Look very carefully, if they don't have a TSA or security badge but rather an airline badge, be nice but firm and say "no, thank you, I will continue through this security checkpoint." There is nothing they can do. Then you can check your bag at the gate if there's not enough room.

Most checkpoints at Logan have multiple airlines accessible from each security checkpoint, so if they say "you need to go to Delta" say "no, actually I'm on Alaska" or whatever.

I often fly with a backpack which is carry-on size but doesn't appear that way to security personnel. This past summer I had this exact discussion at security and dutifully showed them that my bag fit before asking them who was interested: the TSA or Delta. When the agent sheepishly admitted it was Delta I scoffed at them and went to security. At the gate, I was once again asked to check my bag size and did so, while telling them that it seemed ridiculous that I was being made to go through this charade twice. The gate agents apparently do not like the outside security bag check (maybe it's a union thing?) at all, and when I said I was planning to complain to the airline they fawned over me to the point of holding a first class seat that hadn't been claimed until the door closed. Some guy with a suit (maybe this guy) ran up with seconds to spare, and I was relegated to economy. But not everyone at the airlines is on board either.

Anyway, as always with airlines (or really with anyone): be really nice. Kill people with kindness. Say please and thank you. If you're right, you don't have to yell or throw things, but be calm, cool and collected, and things will usually go your way. (Also, remember, gate agents can do pretty much anything.)

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The TSA doesn't check for bag sizes, the airline does. Bag size is a airline matter, not a TSA one. It makes perfect sense to have a airline employee outside check-in to tell people what they are allowed and not allowed to bring.

Also, the guy looks like Patrick Stewart from the photo.

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My issue is with the people outside of security. At the gate, the issue is that they will often tell you the overheads are full long before they actually are. The airline wants to get the plane turned around quickly, and it's much faster to gate check 20 bags than it is to have a couple of people have to wander down the aisles after finding the bins are full. Usually if you talk to the agents they will acquiesce and allow you to carry your bag on. #ProTip: tell them there are spare lithium ion batteries in your bag, in which case they can't check it. (For real.)

Of course, this is something the airlines brought upon themselves by charging for bags—it never used to happen when checked bags were free, did it?

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...they'd charge for carry-on instead of check. Speeds everything up (both at security and getting on/off the plane) and they'd probably make more money.

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They would simply be required to give you one bag with your fare.

I have personally encountered these airline personnel, and they are horrible and poorly trained. They throw tantrums if you point out that your bag will fit, because it did last week, and the plane is the same plane. If you don't put your tiny passport wallet in your bag, where it will clearly fit, they throw tantrums because "you have three bags".

My favorite response to them: So. You want to charge me for this bag? Please measure it first with a device certified by weights and measures, because it isn't legal if you haven't screened it with a device that is legal for trade.

Seriously. It works. You can also carry a tape measure (those bag sizers? They are the same dimensions OUTSIDE as the bag that is permitted).

Also, they are not security personnel. I have ignored them and walked past.

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duplicate post.

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the airline person is only doing his/her job, a job where you stand most of the day (ever try it?) probably at a crap hourly rate, a job where you have to put up with many entitled a-holes such as those who violently smack you across your head with a large bag, and you you come at them with a smart retort. Seriously - "Please measure it first with a device certified by weights and measures..." Seriously?

Good God.

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That is their job.

It isn't about security.

It isn't about a small passport-sized wallet that you have out of your bag so you can hand it to the real security personnel a bit further down.

Their job is to tell people, many of whom are well within the rules, that they have to pay more money to check a bag that fits just fine.

That is their job.

You clearly do not travel much at all, do you? All so very easy for you to preach and lecture those who do with blah blah blah from your armchair.

As for "certified measurement", well, they are charging you for checking a bag based on the size of that bag. They need to have a device which is certified as legal for trade. Period.

THAT IS THE LAW

If farmer's markets have to have scales that are legal for trade, airlines should have to have them too.

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Require the airlines to install an accurate scale and then charge five bucks a pound (over like a five-pound allowance for a small bag) for carry-ons. Then everyone can save all their screaming and assaulting for when the checked bags are three minutes late to the carousel.

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The problem is size, not weight. A backpack like that won't fit in the overhead, nor under the seat. It could be turned sideways in the overhead, but that takes up two spaces for suitcases.

My carry-on typically fits under the seat, but can weigh fifteen pounds if I'm lugging a couple of paper reports, my laptop, charger, and a water bottle filled inside security.

My "roll aboard" is of exactly maximal TSA size and has never not fit in the overhead bin.

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"They need to have a device which is certified as legal for trade. Period.

THAT IS THE LAW"

What law is that?

You should watch some more episodes of Airport. If the airline says you need to check a bag, you need to check it. Period.

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Ever notice the sticker on the scale used to weigh produce?

Every notice the disclaimer on your bath scale?

If a device is used as a basis for charging money, it has to be certified. Check out the scale they use to weigh your packages or weigh your luggage. They are all certified.

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When was the last time that you saw a "certified" ruler? For god's sake, get a grip.

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George the Third...

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Do they need to be certified to count to 3 when you have your additional passport holder out?. For someone who carries a tape measure to make sure you are within rules (which is great btw) I would expect counting your three items to be easy. I hope you don't ignore my comment and walk right past it.

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Click here to see this one trick a woman uses to massage her ego as she harasses minimum wage workers. Airlines hate her!

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To see a cowardly anon massage his ego through drive-by sniping at a woman who dares to know the rules and insist that they be applied properly.

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Nobody's going to click on bait like that.

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Or is it ok to ignore some one enforcing that rule properly and walk right past?

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Of course, this is something the airlines brought upon themselves by charging for bags—it never used to happen when checked bags were free, did it?

It used to happen all the time. People would carry on large bags because they didn't want to wait at baggage claim. Seinfeld had a bit about this ~20 years ago.

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A former flight-attendant friend of mine had a bunch of pictures of "garment bags", permitted as carry-ons for many years.

These didn't have two suits in them so they could go in the closet areas that DC10s used to have ... they were stuffed like a sea bag so that they could stand up in the aisle.

Yeah, people do abuse the system ... that doesn't excuse the airlines from having their "greeters" carry measuring tapes to objectively settle disagreements when they single out travelers and make their wild guesses into pronouncements.

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They have a harder time losing your carry-on luggage. Have you ever gotten to your destination without your checked bags? It sucks. A lot of people avoid checking bags because they want their stuff with them when they land.

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Have you ever gotten to your destination without your checked bags? It sucks. A lot of people avoid checking bags

I remember those days! Both the now-defunct TWA Airlines and United Airlines were absolutely notorious for losing luggage! I mean it happened on a regular basis. Due to personal experience with both of those airlines, I can pass some judgement!

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Well, the two times I flew with them, that is.

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In 2002 some douchebag insisting his giant, wheeled duffel bag would fit in the overhead bin nearly dislocated my shoulder when it came down on me. This isn't a new problem.

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It's free (even if checking a bag would normally cost money), and it means I don't have to transfer the bag myself when making a connection. It's all good!

If you are boarding in Zone 4 or 5, gate-checking is much more likely than not.

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Since when do you have to transfer your bags when making a connection?

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That's why I like gate-checking them. They go directly to my destination without me having to carry them from gate to gate at a connecting hub.

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Hitting a 74 year old woman in the face with a duffel bag filled with his belongings, luckily for him that she did not die.
He should be charge for assault, and should be locked up for 10 years automatically, for his stupid cowardly act of behavior.

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Did you not see this part

a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person age 60 or older.

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be punished to the full extent of the law,if only to be made an example of...(race card time,lol)Whats the chance that this white man, in good standing in his community, an example for all etc will get what he deserves for brutally assaulting an elderly worker.

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I wonder how he would feel if someone socked his elderly mother in the face for doing her job. It's highly unlikely that he will serve jail time, so how about community service at a battered women's shelter and mandatory anger management classes. Apparently this jackass never learned humility or patience.

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I wouldn't want him anywhere near a battered women's shelter, they know the type and he probably wouldn't learn anything.

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74 year old security worker?

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That was one of the first things I thought of when I saw this on the news this morning.

Really, how effective is a 74 yr old security agent? (not that she deserved any of this)

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I can't tell from the screen grab, but the woman does not look like a "security" worker to me (every person who works at Logan has a security role, and sometimes this carries over into the vernacular, particularly in MSP reports since they are constantly emphasizing to everyone that everyone has a security role). Incidentally, the gloves are not dispositive - lots of people at the airport who might have to come in contact with other people or their stuff wear them.

She looks more like one of the "ambassadors" that the airlines hire (through a contractor like FSS, of course) to help people while they are waiting in line so that when they get to the counter, there are fewer issues (these people are often used to help ready families with children and/or inexperienced fliers for passing through the security checkpoint, and they also often help disabled people).

In any case, and with respect, why would someone of this age make a poor security person? Their job is not to restrain people - it is to identify threats and alert the police to resolve them. That is preciselly why there is always a Trooper at or nearby each security checkpoint at Logan.

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I'm sure she does a fine job, I just feel bad that a 74 year old has to work. In an airport no less.

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I was passing through this same security point at 5 am one morning last week and remember this woman because of her age and very thick Boston accent with an interesting twang. At least based on the fuzzy photo provided here. To the point she was helpful and did do a fine job of directing people through the line.

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why does a 74 year old need to work?

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and while it is entirely possible that she wants to work, my experience at the airport is that people in these jobs are there because they need to work.

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I'll be working until the day I die.....

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There are several dozen articles on UHub about the lack of affordable housing. And even if she isn't renting and has no mortgage you still need a good income to pay real estate taxes reflecting the higher real estate values.
And this is more or less most places within 50 miles of Logan.

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Congress is talking about raising the age at which you can collect social security to 67.

Also, people didn't have pensions starting in the 1980s, so she may not have had a pension and she may not have been married to someone with a pension (and, even then, women were often not allowed to vest in pensions until they worked 5 years - my first job had those rules).

So, if she raised a family before entering the workforce sometime in the 1980s, she likely doesn't have any retirement funds beyond $13,000 per year in Social Security.

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I already can't get full Social Security benefits unless I hold out until 66 years & 2 months.

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She is an airline "greeter". She isn't TSA.

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TSA agents don't have powers of arrest, so they don't have to get physical with passengers. So there's no reason why age should disqualify anyone.

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I would have loved to have seen some slow-motion video showing the change in this fellow's facial expression in the 2 seconds between the time he hit this poor woman and the time that Trooper Cresta almost certainly introduced him to the floor.

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Now we all know. Jackass.

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Years ago at Heathrow, I watched a man in a bad suit barge to the head of the queue at one of the gates and start shouting at the gate agents. The gate agents pointed to the queue of about 20 people waiting to be helped and asked him to go to the back of the queue, at which point he shouted "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM!?!"

One of the agents, without missing a beat, picked up the PA mic and announced "Ladies and gentlemen: There's a man at the desk of gate XYZ who has lost his memory, and doesn't know who he is. If anyone here knows who he is, could you please come to the counter. Thank you."

Mr. Entitlement then quietly slinked off to join the back of the queue while we all sneered at him.

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If he hadn't immediately retreated, the people in line would have a priceless opportunity to go "OMG - it's Morgan Freeman!" "What? No, he's John Travolta!" And so on.

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It's Enrico Palazzo!

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Apparently this exact scenario has been witnessed by many people.

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I've heard that story before too, but on the other hand, if you work for an airline, and you actually get the chance to use that line, you're not going to pass it up.

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Somebody my family knew was standing in line at a check-in counter behind a guy who was being a general entitled asshole. The agent was very calm and polite and impressed the heck out of our family friend. When he commented on it to the agent, she said "Well, he's going to Detroit. His luggage is going to Turkey."

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He had to check his back?
How does one even do that?
I'd be terrified and upset if I was told my back had to be placed in the cargo compartment while the rest of me was in a passenger seat.
Or maybe that was a typo?

Quibble: If one pays for an economy class, you aren't relegated there unless you've actually been granted a seat in first-class.
You are just seated where you belong.
Not getting an upgrade is not a downgrade in other words.

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he might have spotted the Statie before hitting the elderly woman with his assault backpack.

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That kind of horrid behavior on the part of Brandhorst was totally uncalled for, but so was the behavior of the airlines security personnel.

Neither one of them gets a pass. Brandhorst, on the other hand, had absolutely NO right to assault and injure the 74 year old flight security personnel person, either. Let's hope Brandhorst is tried for and charged with assault and battery, and gets sentenced to the clinker for long time.

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(I know I'm going to regret this.) What was the uncalled-for "behavior of the airlines security personnel"?

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people check bicycles on planes all the time. I can understand not being allowed to carry the bicycle ON the airplane itself, but putting it in the airplane's luggage cabin down below the passenger seat is perfectly legitimate. the airline's security personnel had no business trying to prevent THAT, either, imho.

That being said, nobody's justifying Brandhorst's assaulting the elderly woman, but, then again, the airline personnel behavior is not always so cool, either.

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Where does the original post say anything about the oversize bag being a bicycle?

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... those new super-foldable bikes that can be carried in a back pack?

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This reply has all the best ingredients:

* Extraneous hypothetical event -- ""If Brandhorst was checking a bicycle onto the plane" -- which he wasn't.

* Confusing reference to nonexistent feature -- "the airplane's luggage cabin down below the passenger seat" -- There's a luggage cabin under the seat?

* Failure to address the question, throwing out a bunch of stuff that might be related (if it were a completely different story), then restating the original premise as though it had been supported by the unrelated stuff.

Terrific material. If this guy keeps commenting, I might just cancel my cable.

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... a gal.

Formerly posted as "miki" -- most famed for her pit bulls and their locking jaws of deth tirades....

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I was a gate agent for ten years and I still find myself scanning for passengers with too many/oversized bags. What many of you don't understand is that airline tells the FAA these are our baggage policies and the FAA holds the airline to those standards. I have been audited by a FAA agent who made sure I was enforcing the carry-on policy while boarding. The airline I worked for had been fined for not enforcing policy. People would tell me all the time that their bag fit in the overhead, I fit in the overhead, that is not the issue. It's about trying to make it fair for everyone. There is only so much space in the overheads. The woman stationed outside of security is doing everyone a favor by trying to stop violators before they get to the gate. It's not gate checking bags that slows down boarding, it's the arguing with the passenger at the door that does. Everyone thinks that agents are giddy to check bags so that they can collect fees but airlines have been enforcing bag policy long before there was fees. If you have made it past an agent with too many bags it's probably because that agent has been berated enough for a lifetime. I commend those agents who do their job while facing an unending line of rude, hostile, and even violent passengers so that mister non-elite, middle seat Joe Schmo has a chance at the overhead.

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