Footage of a woman duct-taped to a seat on an American Airlines flight has surfaced on TikTok after she allegedly tried to open the plane’s front door and assaulted flight attendants.
TikTok user @lol.ariee reportedly posted a video that showed a woman in first class strapped to a seat with duct tape around her chest and mouth.
Though her account is currently unavailable, Business Insider reported @lol.ariee’s footage was followed up by another video explaining the chaotic situation.
She said the incident began to unfold an hour into a two-hour flight between Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas and Charlotte, North Carolina last Thursday.
Flight attendants began “running up and down the aisles” frantically whispering to each other, locking bathrooms and grabbing bags from the overhead bins, @lol.ariee said.
The pilot told passengers they needed to stay in their seats because of “a bad situation in the plane”.
Later, a flight attendant told the TikTok user that a woman “had an outburst” and tried to get off the plane during what seemed to be a mental breakdown.
“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!” @lol.ariee said.
The woman allegedly attacked flight attendants, biting and spitting at them before the crew restrained her.
The TikTok footage is no longer available, however, Viral Uploads has posted a clip of the incident on YouTube which was filmed by a passenger walking past the woman as they exited the plane.
The footage showed police and paramedics waiting at the entrance of the plane as passengers exited.
The TikTok user who uploaded the original footage criticised the cabin crews response to the woman, according to Business Insider.
“What was happening seemed like it was beyond the woman’s control. She was scared,” @lol.ariee said.
“They should have a better way of going about it…I feel like it was handled poorly.”
A spokesperson for American Airlines confirmed crew on board the flight reported a “potential security concern” after a customer attempted to open the forward boarding door and “physically assaulted, bit and caused injury to a flight attendant”.
“For the safety and security of other customers and our crew, the individual was restrained until the flight landed at CLT and could be met by law enforcement and emergency personnel.”
Featured image source: Youtube/Viral Uploads
