Passengers on board a United Airlines flight have had to take matters into their own hands after airline staff allegedly ignored one flyer’s violent and destructive behaviour.
The incident took place on United Flight 502 from Austin, Texas, to Los Angeles on 16 November and was caught on video by fellow flyer Gino Galofaro, who said he was woken up by the passenger. The man, whose face is obscured in the clip released to press, is shown standing up on the seat of his own chair, bracing himself by holding nearby headrests, while repeatedly kicking and jumping on his chair’s back, which appeared to have collapsed – whether because of the way the man was treating the chair, or whether the seat was already faulty is unclear. The chair’s plastic can be heard breaking apart as the man’s foot goes through the moulding.
“Nobody was doing anything”
Luckily no one seems to be seated in the row directly behind the man, but a fellow passenger is seen looking on in bewilderment. The manifest included 76 passengers and five crew, but Galafaro alleges that the flight crew witnessed the man’s destruction of the chair, but failed to act.
“I woke to him kicking the seat,” said Galafaro, who runs an addiction treatment service. “The flight attendant walked by a couple of times, nobody was doing anything. We were about 40 minutes from LAX.”
With such a long period to go before landing and no other solution in sight, Galafaro and another passenger made the decision to intervene, restraining the man by attaching his hands and feet with zip ties, before managing to sit him back down and put his seat belt on.
Customer banned
Law enforcement met the plane when it landed, indicating that the crew were well aware of the incident and had alerted authorities, United Airlines said in a statement. “On Nov. 16, local law enforcement met United flight 502 upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport after a customer became disruptive.”
The airline also confirmed that the passenger would not be welcomed aboard United again. “We’ve banned this customer from future United flights,” it said, adding: “We thank our crew for helping address the situation and working to ensure the safety of everyone on board.”
Galafaro, meanwhile, said he would be happy to meet the passenger’s family and offer them support.
