There are undoubtedly countless airline passengers
each year who are frustrated with their seat assignments or grow angry because of a seat assignment between two less-than-ideal seatmates. However, most typically react the way airlines would expect you to, by remaining silent and simply hoping the flight will pass by quicker.
This, however, was not the reaction of a United Airlines passenger last week, an incident that has since gone viral. On November 16th, 2024, a passenger seated in the middle seat onboard United Airlines Flight 502 from Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) decided to express his frustration with his seat assignment by attacking his seat, an incident that some news outlets have referred to as an “altercation.”
In a video that first emerged on Reddit but has since scattered across the internet, the passenger in question is seen attacking his seat while in flight. It is not exactly clear what led to the incident occurring. However, sources, including the New York Post, have indicated that fellow passengers were forced to restain the disruptive passenger.
At least one passenger onboard the aircraft reported that she was awoken by the incident when she said she heard the noise of him attacking his seat. The incident took place when the aircraft was around an hour away from Los Angeles, and no additional injuries have been reported at this time. The airline also confirmed that the passenger in question has been permanently banned from flying with United Airlines.
Many questions remain unclear about the cause of this bizarre incident
In the video, the problem-causing passenger, who was wearing a hoodie and sweatpants, appears to stand on his seat and stomp on it repeatedly, while shocked passengers appear to look on in confusion. While no one tried to intervene at first, a flight attendant eventually decided to put an end to this nonsense.
Photo: Wenjie Zheng | Shutterstock
Eventually, a pair of passengers was called to assist in the process of stopping the nonsense that was taking place. One passenger, a counselor from San Diego, said that he and a few others zip-tied the problem-causing passenger’s hands and belted him into the seat to prevent him from causing further problems. A different passenger also noted that a screaming child in the seat behind the rampaging passenger may have been part of the problem.
Photo: Minh K Tran | Shutterstock
Not the first time something strange has happened on an aircraft this past week
A completely different, yet similarly bizarre incident, occurred last week onboard an American Airlines flight, when a passenger charged at a flight attendant, claiming that he was going to open the aircraft door. The passenger was eventually restrained and had to be held down with duct tape. A similarly strange accident occurred in which a Frontier Airlines passenger elected to file suit against the carrier after a flight attendant spilled hot tea on him.
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