Passenger behavior on U.S. commercial airline flights has been a recurring issue in recent years, but the latest incident on an American Airlines flight captures a particularly disturbing episode that shows what a deplorable era we live in.
American Airlines Passenger Launches Racist Tirade At Flight Attendants, Crawls Down Aisle, Kicked Off Flight
The incident unfolded during boarding at Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), where a man became verbally abusive toward an American Airlines flight attendant on a flight to Las Vegas (LAS).
Video shows an intoxicated man berating a flight attendant with profanity and racialized comments at some point after pushback but before the aircraft took off. The man accused the flight attendant of buying a social security number, and it only escalated from there:
“I saw her, and her uncles and aunts and cousins swimming the god**mn Rio Grande,” he loudly proclaimed to all within earshot. He added:
“I’m American, you’re the illegal!”
Her response was calm and measured:
“I’ve lived here my whole life…whatever, you’re a racist.”
She added, “Sir, you need to take a seat until we get to the jet bridge—we are going to remove you.”
Fellow travelers can be heard reacting with disbelief and shock, and at least one voice in the background pleads with the man to stop and to follow crew instructions. Ultimately, American Airlines personnel intervened, escorted the passenger off the aircraft, and the man was removed before the flight could take off. Ironically, the jet bridge broke down at the first gate the flight returned to, so the aircraft had to move to another gate just to boot the man, which so nicely personifies American Airlines these days.
At one point while waiting to reach the gate, the man…clearly intoxicated…could be seen crawling down the aircraft aisle as he slurped something from a plastic cup. He also attacked an Indian flight attendant, calling him a “half breed” and for good measure, called the white flight attendant “Mr. Potato Head.” He later also verbally attacked Chinese, Japanese, and Korean passengers as he waited for the aircraft to reach the gate. It’s all here for you to see:
@anitakarknight Coming to you live from American Airlines ✈️ @American Airlines @The Shade Room
https://twitter.com/LongTimeHistory/status/2023165811490267445?
No official statement from American Airlines has been released, but the airline routinely emphasizes that passenger safety and crew well-being are top priorities. In similar past incidents, carriers have refused transport and involved law enforcement when passengers become disruptive or abusive toward staff. Do we even need one?
I hope this guy not only is banned from American Airlines, but it fined by the Department of Transportation for his unruly behavior. DOT Secretary Sean Duffy has pushed for more civilized behavior on airplanes…whatever that is, this isn’t it…
> Read More: U.S. Transportation Secretary Says YOU Are The Reason Air Travel Has Become Uncivilized
In my view, the man should be fined not for his disgusting racism and ignorant assumptions about his flight attendants and fellow passengers, but because he failed to follow crew member instructions and his antics led to a delay that burdened everyone. That conduct cannot be tolerated. If you cannot handle alcohol, don’t drink it.
CONCLUSION
Disruptive behavior on aircraft not only jeopardizes safety but also places unnecessary stress on flight attendants and fellow passengers. This loser not only deserved to be thrown off the flight, but he now deserves to be prosecuted. Folks, when we all join together and condemn this vile behavior, the healing can begin. Kudos to the American Airlines flight attendants for holding it together.
Should there be stronger penalties for passengers who launch racist or abusive tirades on flights?
Remember when we thought it was mask mandates that made people act poorly on planes? Turns out it’s just that MAGA people can’t act civilized
The left does a good job of being obnoxious too. It’s bilateral.
Nice attempt at ‘both sides…’ (very fine people.) /s
Trump will soon appoint him to be the head of the FAA.
He should be put on the No-Fly list. But then Trump would just pardon him and appoint him to a cabinet-level post heading an agency he wants to kill and give him a FIFA Peace Prize.
Expect more of this as the contagion spreads.
“Video shows an intoxicated man berating a flight attendant with profanity and racialized comments at some point after pushback but before the aircraft took off.”
American bears the responsibility for this episode. This person should not have been allowed to board the aircraft in his condition and, since the aircraft had not taken off, how was he allowed onto the plane carrying an open container?
Take your ambulance chasing lawyer creativity a few steps further, there are so many more people you could blame before blaming the one person who actually disrupted everyone on board, disrespeccted everyone that he interacted with, delayed the flight for all passengers, and added several thousand dollars of operating cost to this flight. Airport security bears the responsibility for this episode – this person should not have been allowed to walk down the concourse in his condition or approach the boarding area carrying an open container. TSA bears the responsibility for this episode – this person should not have been allowed to walk through security with his attitude. DFW airport bears the responsibility for allowing a bar or restaurant onsite that services alcohol, they could easily eliminate alcohol service. Blame this guy’s employer(s) – this person should not be paid if he is disrespectful to everyone around him. He really should take legal action against everyone remotely connected to his life, because they have allowed him to behave this way and he is just a victim of their collective maltreatment and gross negligence. The options available to avoid holding him accountable for being a terrible person and causing financial damage to AA and many passengers are endless if you look at it from the perspective of victimhood and you lack a basic moral compass.
No he shouldn’t be fined for being a racist. But he should be banned for life for both American and all US airlines for the disruption. Along with made responsible for the costs of the delay.
His beliefs and comments aren’t the issue here. Sure he’s a moron but saying moronic things shouldn’t be the crime. The public drunkenness and the delay caused is the issue and the crime.
However history has shown these type incidents are not treated very harshly by courts. Small fines and slaps on the wrist aren’t enough and the airlines need to work together to punish the customer, which we haven’t seen in the past.
I agree with Kyle that this drunken idiot was making some pretty thoughtful and compelling political arguments.
We are deporting the wrong people.
I couldn’t agree more!
Zing! Got’em!
(258 days until the midterms!)
The baseball cap, t shirt and gold chain are all you have to know.
Hard to believe he wasn’t disruptive in the gate area and/or in the boarding line .
Dear oh dear, what a lovely place the US has become on the watch of Criminal Trump and his bunch of dysfucntional toddlers.
How is that in the past 50 years the American society has since this low. He is. It one of hundreds of road rangers, airline rage incidents annually. Fifty years ago this behavior, school shootings end nasty behavior by even politicians was rare. Now it’s the norm. What happened?
It has become freer
I’m puzzled. He gets thrown off the plane for saying exactly what Trump does every day. And Trump is not even a drinker.
He will be fine. ICE will hire him in a few weeks and in 2028 he will run for office like some of his J6 brethren.
Texas Man to Florida Man: Hold my beer. No wait, I’ll keep drinking it.
A fine and lifetime ban on all flights that touch the USA seems about right. The jetway breaking is the fault of the airport though.
What this man needed more than anything was to be beaten bloody and thrown out the door like the heap of garbage he is.
Candidly (and frighteningly), that was my first thought as well – but we cannot stoop to that level. We must take the road of human dignity and deny our urge for blood, while holding him fully accountable for his deplorable actions.
I find it amazing we are shocked at individuals behavior when you have sold alcohol to them in the airport and again on the plane. His behavior is disgusting! Alcohol is a drug defined as a substance, just like a Rx, that can change your behavior and damage you if you overdose. In this case, he overdosed on a drug and “word vomited”. It is airline personnel abuse to continue to serve alcohol in a close space that your hardworking staff have to put up with and also at times inconvenient fellow passengers that have to wait for law enforcement and delay the rest of the planes passengers. This is a self inflicted damage by airlines.
Hey, he’s just a cruder version of GOP pols. This is called spreading democracy.
I am so sick of these people that think being an a-s in public is some kind of flex. As my parents would say, a clear case of lack of home training. Traveling is a privilege – if you can’t act right, you shouldn’t get to take the flight. Ban this jerk from flying for life.
@Mark P. – agreed!
I much prefer overt, hard-r, simple MAGA bigots to the far more insidious, faux-intellectual, supply-side, trickle-down, corporate-shill, mercenaries for the oligarchs, who pretend to be conservatives, but still also hold the same Confederate, neo-Nazi, white-supremacist views, just behind a thin-veil. Like, at least one you can see from a mile away… or in this case, a few rows back, crawling in the aisle… oof.
I don’t know. The corporatist wing of the GOP party is certainly a toxin for the average American, but at the same time may be less lethal because their wealth and power depend upon a perpetuation of the current world order, which strikes me as better than MAGA tearing down institutions like NATO and the US-European alliance that took decades to build…
There’s gonna need to be a new party, or reimagined parties, for what is ultimately a lot of social and fiscal moderates. (Of course, personally, I’m rooting for the second-coming of Teddy Roosevelt, trust-buster.) Perhaps, we could eventually end up with a multi-party system like Canada, Australia, and many European countries, but that requires coalitions, compromise, and above all else, courage, which we seem to have a dearth of these days. Or we end up with one-party dictatorship, under a buffoon of a man, which, I donno, doesn’t seem ‘great.’
I feel sorry for Amtrak passengers because he’s about to get banned from the sky.
Not commenting on this disgusting person, just wondering why my last 2 comments here haven’t been posted? As a former UAL F/A I feel my insight is relevant to the main post and the other comments being posted
Hi Judith, all your comments should be there. I would never delete a comment from you.
No surprise. You get at least one rotten apple in the barrel
This guy just looked the part…
The TDS is alive and well here again.. I cannot understand why so many travel blogger readers are on the extreme left side???
Confession…That was me on that flight.
Backdrop is my healthcare provider refused me further treatment and medication for known condition. Currently pursuing a medical malpractice lawsuit over discontinued treatment. 35 years of antidepressants and other psychiatric medications. I had reached out to the chief medical personnel regarding side effects from discontinued medication. And was ignored. Im sorry for this incident. How can they pump a person full of psychiatric medication and deny further treatment?? They take an oath to do no harm. Cold turkey is not a treatment plan. 3 weeks no medication. Mental health affects 30 million Americans. Not to mention Worldwide. If you never experienced it before, then you have no idea what it can do to a person. Sorry people…
@Ray: thanks for sharing your story. If the email address you left is accurate, I’ll reach out to you.