Katie (Couric) Pulls Strings In Cockpit [View All]

[Mark E. Smith]

NY Post (Page Six) July 29, 2006

Katie Couric had fellow passengers aboard a New York-bound jet on the warpath this week when, as their plane was about to taxi to the runway, she got out of her seat and begged the pilot to allow one of her late-arriving producers to board.

"It was like, 'Who the hell does she think she is?'" fumed one passenger who observed Couric's diva-like antics. "If you or I attempted something like this, we'd be cooling our heels in Guantanamo."

The witness told Page Six that attendants on Wednesday's 6:30 p.m. Delta Shuttle flight out of Washington D.C. had already closed the door and passengers were buckled in, when the soon-to-be CBS News anchor raced up the aisle with a cellphone to her ear and told an attendant she had to speak to the pilot right away. Couric was then allowed into the cockpit and convinced the pilot to delay the flight and reopen the door for her producer, Nicola Hewitt.

"One flight attendant rolled her eyes and told me, "This is only the second time I've seen this happen - the other time was a sick passenger," the witness said.

(Later ...)

Still, our witness - a high-powered public-relations executive who rides the shuttle regularly - said he and fellow passengers were not impressed at the behavior of TV's top news personality, who got a whopping $60 million contract to jump from NBC's "Today" show to CBS.

"Using your celebrity in the post-9/11 age to stop a flight is diabolical," he raged.

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