A woman has been charged with interfering with flight crew members after repeatedly assaulting flight attendants on an American Airlines flight.
According to a federal complaint filed in New York, Chenasia Campbell became unruly during a flight between Miami and New York City on 2 April.
A border protection officer assigned to the FBI joint terrorism task force said in the complaint that Campbell left her seat midway through the flight and followed a flight attendant to the crew area of the plane, where she began yelling at her for not picking up her garbage.
When another flight attendant tried to intervene, Campbell accused her of pushing her and began to hit the second flight attendant with closed fists and pulled her hair.
Campbell became distracted and began yelling at a passenger before returning to the flight attendant and began yelling “obscenities”.
“The cops aren’t going to do anything to me,” she yelled, according to the complaint, before beginning to hit the flight attendant again.
Anthony Apath, the border protection officer who wrote the complaint, said at one point during the fight, Campbell tried to “pull up or remove” the flight attendant’s dress.
American Airlines cabin crew requested the pilot land the plane, but were denied.
An off-duty New York City police officer managed to place Campbell in hand restraints for the rest of the flight until she was taken into police custody upon landing.
The flight attendant was left with bruises to the forehead and leg, as well as scrapes to the arm and cheek and a strained neck.
American Airlines told Travel Weekly that the passenger refused to comply with the federal mask requirement and assaulted a crew member while in flight.
“Violence of any kind is not tolerated by American,” the airline said in a statement.
We thank our crew members and law enforcement for their quick action, both on board and at the airport, to ensure the safety of our customers and crew members.”
Campbell appeared in court on 3 May and was released on a bond of almost $20,000, CNN reported.
