SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Multiple men on board a recent American Airlines flight jumped in to help a woman who was allegedly being physically assaulted, and video of the incident is circulating online.
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Reporter Arjun Singh of the Epoch Times captured the video and posted it on X late Wednesday.
“This evening, there was a violent incident on my @AmericanAir Flight AA 310 from Miami to Charlotte,” said the post. “Several men jumped to subdue another man in first class, who entered an altercation with the lady next to him. The flight landed 26 minutes early, but we aren’t getting off soon.”
In the video, people can be heard saying “don’t f****ing touch her,” and “get your hands off of her right now,” to the man in question.
One man in black was leaning over the man and woman’s seats from the row of seats behind him, another man in black was leaning over the seats from the aisle and another man in white who appeared to be standing in front of them. A man in a pink shirt and a man in a patterned shirt, flight attendants were also watching nearby.
After the man in white helped the woman move to a seat away from the man who allegedly hurt her, that man apparently claimed he had been assaulted.
“I didn’t assault you, I put my hand over your mouth to make you shut up,” said the woman
“You slapped me,” he retorted.
“I didn’t slap you,” she continued.
In a second video posted by Singh, an officer from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police can be seen on the plane. A flight attendant asked the passengers if anyone witnessed the man hurt the woman. Many hands went up. Then, the officer began asking specific individuals questions.
“Our first priority is the safety of the crew and our customers, and we take these matters very seriously,” said American Airlines in a reply to Singh’s posts on X. According to The New York Post, the airline also confirmed the incident occurred in a statement.
“Two customers traveling together were engaged in an altercation aboard American Airlines flight 310, with service from Miami (MIA) to Charlotte (CLT) on Oct. 2. Local law enforcement responded and escorted the customers from the CLT airport,” a spokesperson for the airline said, per the outlet.
Additionally, the airline said it does not tolerate violence and that it was thankful for its team’s professionalism in handling the situation. The Post said that it is unclear if the man was arrested and that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police department did not immediately respond to a Post inquiry.
People magazine also reported that it reached out to American Airlines and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police for further comment.
More than 1,600 unruly passenger incidents have been recorded by the U.S Federal Aviation Administration so far this year. Incidents hot a peak of nearly 6,000 in 2021 and have remained higher than pre-pandemic levels. In 2023 alone, $7.5 million in fines were levied due to unruly passenger incidents.
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