A passenger on an American Airlines flight became violent and attempted to storm the cockpit before being tackled by a flight attendant.
Chaos erupted midair on an American Airlines flight on Thursday when a passenger made a beeline for the cockpit, only to be taken down by a quick-thinking flight attendant.
The whole ordeal was caught on camera and has since gone viral on social media.
In the video, you can see the woman being cornered by crew members just as the cockpit door swings open. A male flight attendant leaps into action, tackling her before she could breach the pilot’s domain.
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Aeroin, an aviation news outlet, reported that the woman turned aggressive, threatening to “kick the flight attendants in the balls” while they struggled to restrain her.
The ruckus led to at least two passengers being booted off the plane. American Airlines is keeping mum on whether the unruly individuals will face charges.
This latest disturbance sparked renewed anxiety over the uptick in unruly passenger incidents on board flights, as noted by the Mirror, the Express reported.
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The commotion kicked off with a man in first class who, sans shoes, started berating the flight attendants in Portuguese. As the crew tried to pacify one disruptive female passenger, she got worked up, demanding answers about the flight delay.
Things heated up even more when the woman, while being led to the back of the aircraft, got into a shouting match with the barefoot man.
“You son of a b—-, disgusting, you can’t touch me, you don’t know who you’re talking to, you’re going to get screwed. I went to ask why I was late and this [man] threw me out,” she reportedly screamed, per aviation outlet Aeroin.
A fellow male flight attendant intervened to deescalate the situation, leading to the ejection of the troublesome male passenger from the aircraft, as verified by Aeroin.
The chaotic episode delayed the New York City-bound jet from São Paulo even more, necessitating a return to the gate to remove the unruly passengers.
Aeroin disclosed that the plane finally took off with a delay of two hours and 25 minutes from the originally scheduled time.
In an official comment about the flight’s unexpected diversion back to the gate, American Airlines declared: “The safety of our customers and employees is our top priority and we thank everyone for their understanding.”
The episode follows another alarming occurrence earlier in the month when a father belligerently confronted a flight attendant in an attempt to force his way into the cockpit on an American Airlines flight from New York to Milan.
Passenger Krystie Tomlinson told CBS News, “The whole thing started because of a meal choice they didn’t get.”
She recounted how the disruptive flyer had requested a special meal ahead of time, and was insistent on having a seat in the exit row because he was traveling with an infant.
These escalating episodes have heightened anxieties about passenger behavior and the implementation of safety protocols on international long-haul flights.
A witness claimed that the passenger’s misbehavior was triggered when two specific demands were rejected — a preferred meal and a spot in the exit row. “Those two things are what pushed the person over the edge,” they asserted.
Passenger Michael Scigliano voiced his unease about not having an air marshal present, which added to the strain. He described how the captain told passengers they were returning to JFK Airport: “We’re left with this crazy man in the plane, unprotected and unrestrained.”
The aircraft was ultimately forced to return to JFK Airport, where law enforcement removed the disorderly person from the plane. Post-incident, no criminal charges have been reported.