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American Airlines staff duct tape boy, 13, to his seat for allegedly trying to kick open window

The unidentified teen was arrested after the Miami to Los Angeles flight was diverted and made a landing in Honolulu

A teenage boy was duct-taped to his seat by American Airlines cabin staff for reportedly trying to kick open a window of the plane midflight - an incident that was caught on video. The boy allegedly also broke into a physical fight with his mother as fellow passengers tried to help restrain the 13-year-old's disruptive behavior. The boy reportedly began misbehaving just an hour into the flight from Maui, Hawaii to Los Angeles, California. The video of the incident has since gone viral.

News of the boy's disruptive behavior comes in the wake of an incident involving Maxwell Berry, who became infamous for throwing a drunk in-flight tantrum, allegedly sexually assaulting, punching, and groping flight attendants in the process. Berry continuously screamed and bragged about his parents being worth $2 million. The Ohio man was arrested after the plane enroute from Miami landed. The teenager too was taken into custody, but no injuries were reported.

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CBS Los Angeles broke witnesses' accounts of the incident, revealing that others had to step in when the boy began getting physical with his own mother. A clip of the incident that has since gone viral shows airline crew and passengers holding the boy down, while a flight attendant attempts to wrap duct tape around the boy's body to strap him to his seat. Other passengers could be seen watching the incident unfold from their seats.

Business Insider reports that the flight took off on Tuesday, August 10, at 12:30 pm local time, and was scheduled to land in Los Angeles five hours later. Instead, the flight had to be diverted to Hawaii's capital Honolulu, where the teenager was arrested on landing. An American Airlines spokesperson said: "Customers were re-accommodated on other flights or provided hotel accommodations. Safety and security is our top priority and we apologize to our customers for any inconvenience this caused." 

The plane landed in Honolulu at 3:47 pm local time, according to the spokesperson, who said the diversion was made "due to an incident with a passenger on board". Before this incident, and after Berry's outrageous act in-flight, the Federal Aviation Administration had said it was investigating some 600 reports of unruly passenger behavior in just this year itself. Business Insider reports this number was nearly double of the combined numbers of 2019 and 2020.

Berry's deplorable acts of punching a flight attendant, as well as groping others has been severely called out online. Social media hasn't been all that kind towards the teenager either, as Twiitter was filled with tweets criticizing his behaviour. "If he does it again, throw him off the plane," wrote one user. Another quipped, "I would open the door and let him out if he so badly wanted to leave the aircraft." And another complained: "I am sure that someone will complain about how terrible it is for the aircrew to duct tape a 13-year-old boy to his seat. I think they did absolutely the right thing. They also need to have a long talk with his mother when they land."