A first-class passenger was forcibly restrained by crew members on an American Airlines flight after she appeared to attempt to enter the cockpit. The incident, which took place on Flight AA950 heading from from São Paulo, Brazil to New York JFK Airport on April 24, resulted in a delay of over two hours.
Footage of the confrontation shows the woman arguing with the flight crew near the open cockpit door, swearing, and resisting efforts to calm her down. Shortly afterwards, she was seen being taken down to the floor and restrained before being led back to her seat. The woman, reportedly agitated over a delayed departure, was tackled by flight attendants and removed from the plane along with another disruptive passenger.
The woman’s outburst started when she left her seat during taxiing and questioned crew members about the flight delay, as per Aerion.
Witnesses reported that she became confrontational and verbally aggressive, swearing at a flight attendant. When a pilot come out of the cockpit, the woman went towards the open door, causing a flight attendant to physically intervene.
Footage captured on passengers’ mobile phones reveals a woman shouting in both Portuguese and English, threatening a crew member with, “I’ll kick you in the balls” before being restrained.
The situation escalated further when a male passenger stood up and started berating the crew members.
In a statement given to Simple Flying, American Airlines confirmed that the flight was returned to the gate prior to take-off due to “a security issue onboard”.
As she was restrained and escorted back to her seat prior to removal, the female passenger reportedly hurled insults.
One of the crew members knocked the woman to the floor before another crew member restrained her. She was then guided back to her seat in the first class cabin.
The woman yelled: “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.”
The plane was forced to return to the gate and both the woman and the male passenger involved were escorted off the plane by authorities.