The flight which connected Miami (Florida) to Charlotte (North Carolina) on Wednesday was marked by a violent incident in first class. Passengers intervened to defend a woman who was visibly abused by her partner. A video of the altercation shows several men and two flight attendants interposing themselves between the two travelers. One of them, enraged, leans towards the passenger and yells: “Don’t touch her, whore!” The man seems to be uttering some sort of excuse, to which the traveler responds, “I don’t give a damn! Look at me, you screwed up. Don’t touch her, d***!”
The altercation continued after the woman changed seats, with the alleged attacker shouting that he himself had been assaulted and that his partner had slapped him. “No, I put my hand on your mouth to shut you up,” the passenger retorted. The situation eventually calmed down, but one of the travelers remained standing in the aisle, keeping guard between the protagonists of the incident.
The flight landed 26 minutes early in Charlotte, where police officers boarded before disembarkation, View from the Wing explains. The couple was escorted off the plane and witnesses to the altercation were interviewed. “We do not tolerate violence and we thank our team members for the professionalism they demonstrated in handling a difficult situation,” American Airlines said in a statement. Charlotte police have not said whether the man will be prosecuted.
