The airline passenger who got into an angry war of words with media newshound Arianna Huffington for using her BlackBerry when their plane was taking off was unrepentant yesterday, claiming she needlessly imperiled the safety of other travelers by selfishly ignoring the rules.
“She was putting the use of her BlackBerry ahead of the safety of the entire plane. It was purely her own self-interest she was concerned with,” said Ellis Belodoff, 53.
The flap arose late Saturday night when Huffington — a noted author and columnist, who owns the online Huffington Post — was headed to LaGuardia from Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C. and defied Captain Charles Beals’ standard pre-flight instructions that all passengers turn off their cell phones, Belodoff noted.
The small shuttle jet has only 47 seats and Huffington was seated in the first row along the left side of the plane, while Belodoff was seated in row four, on the opposite side.
Belodoff said he didn’t know about Huffington being a media mogul before the flight, but he saw her using her BlackBerry as the plane was taxiing down the runway — and a flight attendant repeatedly declined any opportunity to tell her to turn off the device.
“I see a hand in front of me with a BlackBerry,” said Belodoff, who owns E&B Floors, a floor installation business, in Plainview, L.I.
Belodoff said when his attempts to notify the flight attendant grew fruitless, he yelled out in frustration.
“So, I yell to him, ‘She’s on her BlackBerry!’¤” he recounted.
When the plane takes off “she’s still on it and I’m ringing my buzzer [to notify the flight attendant]. And finally, I said, ‘What is wrong with you?’ And I’m getting louder and louder.”
Belodoff said that a flight attendant eventually persuaded Huffington to turn off the device and place it in her pocketbook, which was in an overhead bin, but she had been using it for at least 10 minutes after the plane was airborne.
Angry about what happened, he confronted the flight attendant about his alleged refusal to confront Huffington.
“I told him, ‘There’s probably a reason why they want you to turn it off on take off and upon landing,’ ” he said.
“He says, ‘We’ll take care of it when we land.’
“I told him, ‘You didn’t even reprimand her!’
“’He tells me, ‘Calm down, sir!’ I told him I was calm. If I wasn’t calm, I would have ripped it out of her hand!’ “
She put the use of the BlackBerry ahead of the safety of the entire plane,” he fumed.
Belodoff denied reports he had gotten out of his seat to confront Huffington and chastised the flight attendant for not speaking to Huffington sooner — and was annoyed at other passengers for not speaking their mind.
“He [Burgamy] made it seem like I should sit there calmly while we crash. Shame on other people for not speaking up,” he said.
After the plane landed, Huffington was allowed to leave first, but Belodoff said he delivered a final salvo at her.
“I told her, ‘Don’t get hit by a bus,’” he admitted.
A United Airlines spokesman said the flight was operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines, whose spokesman could not be reached. A spokesman for Huffington declined comment.