Shocking moment angry passenger repeatedly punches United flight attendant
Cellphone video captures the shocking moment an enraged passenger repeatedly punches a United Airlines crew member on a red-eye flight from San Francisco to Houston on Monday.
Traveler Naya Jimenez captured the chaotic scene on video, showing a male passenger taking swings at a flight attendant and then being restrained by good Samaritans.
Jimenez told the station ABC13 that at one point during the melee, the unruly passenger even tried to jump out of the plane while it was still on the ground.
The fellow passenger said the situation began unfolding before the flight took off from San Francisco International Airport around midnight.
Jimenez said the male passenger flew into a rage because she asked his wife and then him to move out of her assigned seat.
“They had to bring in a gate attendant to try to talk to both of them,” she said.
“Then, he began slurring his speech a little bit.”
The out-of-control passenger then proceeded to physically assault the flight attendant, hitting the United employee several times with his fists, as seen in the footage.
“Oh my God! Stop! Stop!” other travelers on the plane witnessing the beating exclaim.
Jimenez said the situation took an even more dangerous turn when the irate passenger walked up to an emergency exit door at the front of the plane and opened it, planning to jump out.
“The plane is elevated, so he would have jumped apparently two stories to the ground,” Jimenez said.
The flight crew rushed to the man’s side and was able to pull him back to safety.
United Airlines confirmed the incident in a statement to The Post
“On Sunday night, our team at San Francisco International Airport immediately contacted law enforcement officials after a customer became disruptive during boarding,” an airline spokesperson stated.
“We’re grateful to our team in San Francisco for their professionalism in this situation and for looking out for the safety of our customers and their fellow United employees.”
It was not immediately known whether the passenger was arrested in the wake of the disturbance.
The Post on Tuesday reached out to the San Francisco Police Department seeking comment on the incident and was awaiting a reply.
