United Airlines pilot removed from flight after rants about Trump, divorce

An unidentified female United Airlines pilot was removed from a plane before a flight from Austin to San Francisco Saturday evening.

United flight 455 was scheduled to depart Austin-Bergstrom International Airport at 5:02pm but was delayed for more than two hours after the pilot went on what passengers described as a "rant", the Daily Mail reported.

The pilot came into the cabin wearing 'street clothes' and talked to passengers over the intercom about her divorce and the presidential election, passenger Randy Reiss told KVUE.

Reiss said the pilot also mentioned that she was going to be on Oprah.

Passengers said the pilot called President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton "a*******".

Some of the pilot's comments rattled passengers, causing them to question her ability to fly the plane.

"She said, 'Sorry I'm late, the reason I'm late is I'm going through a divorce'" Reiss told BuzzFeed News.

"It quickly went from playful to scary".

At first the pilot seemed friendly, said Reiss, but things took an awkward turn when she pointed out an interracial couple sitting in first class.

The pilot acknowledged that some people on the plane appeared to be nervous in a video taken by a passenger.

"Okay, if you don't feel safe get off the plane, but otherwise we can go", she said.

It was at this point that Reiss grabbed his bag and asked to be let off the plane.

So, she's off the flight. pic.twitter.com/4Lzq8O9jzY

— Randy Reiss (@undeadsinatra) February 11, 2017

"Being a pilot is a tough and stressful job, she was just not equipped today to do it", said Reiss.

"She seemed in an emotionally tough space, so I hope she finds the help she probably needs".

A spokesperson for United Airlines responded to the incident while the plane was still on the tarmac: "We hold our employees to the highest standards and replaced this pilot with a new one to operate the flight, which we expect will depart shortly.

"We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience".