Woman duct-taped to seat on American Airlines flight after attacking crew slapped with $82K fine
The woman who went viral for being duct-taped to her seat on an American Airlines flight for allegedly attacking the crew and trying to open the airplane's door midflight is facing a whopping $81,950 fine from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This is the largest fine charged by the FAA to date.
During the plane ride of American Airlines Flight 1774 from Dallas to Charlotte, North Carolina, on July 6, 2021, which had already been delayed for about three hours and was quite chaotic, the woman, right before landing, had an outburst and started yelling that she needed to get off the plane and started banging on the airplane's door, and in the process, assaulted a crew member.
READ MORE
SHOCKING: Dead fetus found on American Airlines flight at LaGuardia airport
During the flight, chaos erupted as attendants scurried about, locking bathroom doors and grabbing bags from overhead bins before the pilot asked passengers to remain seated.
According to the footage posted by TikTok user @lol.ariee, the Tiktoker explained that right before landing, the woman "had an outburst and, like, had the urge to get off the plane." @lol.ariee also added, "And she was saying, 'I need to get off this plane,’ and she went up to the exits and started banging on the doors, saying, 'You need to let me off this plane'." In the video, the woman was also screaming, "You! You! You!" at passengers filing past her as flight attendants calmly nodded their goodbyes.
The airline told the New York Post that the woman assaulted and bit a flight attendant after she "attempted to open the forward boarding door" and was restrained "for the safety and security of other customers and our crew."
Since the FAA has zero tolerance for such behavior, the woman has been charged with an $81,950 fine. Besides her, the FAA also proposed a fine of $77,272, the second-largest ever against another woman aboard a Delta flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta on July 16, 2021. The agency said she attempted "to hug and kiss" another passenger, tried to exit the plane midflight, and bit another flier multiple times before the crew restrained her. The two fines are part of approximately $2 million in penalties that the FAA has proposed so far this year.
Both the passengers have 30 days after receiving the FAA’s letter to respond to the agency, which said that it has a zero-tolerance policy against unruly behavior. The agency also firmly said, "Federal law prohibits interfering with aircraft crews or physically assaulting or threatening to physically assault aircraft crews or anyone else on an aircraft." They are also organizing public awareness campaigns so that these kinds of cases may not happen in the future.