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Who is the United Airlines Karen? Woman faces flight ban after wine argument with attendant leads to forced landing

'You cannot argue with a narcissist. I have learned the hard way,' read a comment on the viral TikTok video about the 'United Airlines Karen'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: A woman has been banned from taking another United Airlines flight after she allegedly had an ugly argument with a flight attendant over wine. The argument escalated so badly that the pilot was forced to take the plane to Phoenix instead of the flight's actual destination — Los Angeles. The incident reportedly happened on July 25 when the plane was flying to LA from Houston.

A statement from United Airlines read as per The Independent that the plane was taken to Phoenix “due to a disruptive passenger who continually refused to follow the flight attendant’s instructions to return to her seat.” It added, “Law enforcement officials met the aircraft on arrival and removed the passenger, and the flight subsequently departed for Los Angeles later that evening. The customer has been barred from future United flights while we review this matter.”

Who is the United Airlines Karen?

The identity of the woman is not known yet but she has been caught on camera while she was arguing with the plane's crew members. In the TikTok video shared by Blake Perkins, one crew member could be heard saying, “You were crying and I gave you a hug because you told me you have anxiety. And I knew you were drinking wine and you’re not allowed to. And I still let you board the aircraft.”

Perkins wrote in the video caption, “Another video of the Karen who couldn’t get her wine. We had to land the plane so she could get escorted off and causing us even more delays than we already had. Over wine.” The TikTok user also added, “So annoyed that we had to land so she could be arrested but also free in-flight entertainment lmao.”

‘Permanent is the only way to deter these idiots’

Meanwhile, some people blasted the woman in the comment section of the Tik Tok video with one saying, “Flight attendants are not paid enough to deal with this BS.”  Another one wrote, “People who force planes to land for temper tantrums should be sued by the insurance companies and passengers who get their trips interrupted.” The third one added, “You cannot argue with a narcissist. I have learned the hard way.”

There were a few comments on Twitter as well as a person shared, “There should be no temporary bans. Permanent is the only way to deter these idiots!! If enough have to ride a bus they will stop.” The second one commented, “It seems funny for people who are addicted ( many indeed ) but the world is bored to have tourists from some countries who have no dignity! That should be banned from flights and holiday places.”