This flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Charlotte, North Carolina had apparently been delayed three hours and finally took off around midnight. A passenger who took the video says that around 1:30 am, the flight attendants began turning on the cabin lights. The scene, she described, was quite chaotic.
“We see all flight attendants running up and down the aisles, frantically kind of like whispering to each other,” she recalled.
The cabin crew wasn’t saying much about what was going on, but they began taking bags from overhead bins and locking the bathroom doors. Finally, the pilot came over to the loudspeaker to let them know that there was a “bad situation” near the front of the plane.
“Then we’re gradually starting to hear more and more screaming, and we’re like, ‘Wait a minute,’”
Just before landing, one flight attendant explained to them that a passenger who seemed to have some sort of mental issue had the sudden urge to get off the plane. She began banging on the doors and demanding that the flight attendants let her off and even tried to escape herself.
The situation escalated very quickly and the passenger began attacking, scratching, and biting crew members. It took five flight attendants to control her. They apparently wrestled her into a seat and duct-taped her there. They also put a piece over her mouth to prevent her from screaming.
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American Airlines has acknowledged and confirmed the incident. They explained after the woman attacked and bit their crew, the flight attendants did what they believed necessary for the safety of everyone on board.
The woman has been placed on the airline’s internal “no-fly” list while they investigate the situation. Emergency response crews met them at the gate and took her to the local hospital.