A fight on an American Airlines flight to Miami got out of control as the plane was about to land: “She had her elbow in me the whole entire time.”
You can hear a flight attendant saying they are “about to land” and that if people do not sit down they will have to keep “going around in circles.” The planeload of passengers just wants to get on the ground, but not everyone is willing to sit.
It appears that an argument over personal space in cramped seats – as one passenger encroached over the armrest of the other – escalated beyond the usual passive aggressiveness that two adversaries might engage in and spilled over into an all out aluminum alloy, carbon-fiber composite, and titanium cage match.
In video taken by another passenger you can heaer the woman saying some version of “Are you going to make me sit down?” The crew are trying to shut it down, while a customer in the gray cap steps in and acts as a separator. She surges forward anyway, and her adversary goes hands-on in response.
A commenter on the clip reports working work the adjacent gate when the plane finally arrived, and reports that police were waiting there to take the woman into custody.
Woman: “Are you gonna make me sit down? Are you gonna make me sit down? Are you gonna make me sit down? Are you gonna make me sit down? Now, bitch, you come here.”
Other passenger: “I don’t care. She had her elbow in me the whole entire time. As soon as I move my arm, she gonna elbow [or hit] me. No, bitch, I’m gonna fuck you up.”
Flight attendant: “We’re about to land, and if everybody doesn’t sit down, we’re gonna have to keep going around in circles and circles and circles, and people are going to miss their connections. Everybody, please sit down. Can we sit down later, please? Can we let the 172 people that want to go home, go home? Can we go home now? Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!”
There’s the usual “Lemme take a wild guess… Spirit?” from the internet, when of course this is American Airlines. And American, which has (1) more flights and more passengers than others and (2) a hub in Miami, actually seems to have more of these incidents than Spirit or Frontier, even if they have fewer of them per capita.
I think I’m going to steal one line I read though: “This is group 8 behavior.”
This incident bears such a striking resemblance to last summer’s American Airlines Nassau – Miami onboard fight that I had to do a double take to make sure this really was a new incident. But of course it is because it was.. an American Airlines flight to Miami.
Here’s another Miami flight where drunk passengers were removed for threatening an American Airlines flight attendant and one where a Miami passenger attached an American Airlines gate agent who demanded she gate check her bag.
Who are we to ‘yuck’ anyone’s ‘yum’ …like, one assumes, some folks enjoy having someone else’s elbows in them… to each their own!
Must have been a ” Deliverance ” convention and parade with the Original Banjo Boy from the movie as The Grand Marshall. Safer thumbing for a ride on I-75 then flying these days.
I guess Spirit didn’t have any seats available. This is usually where this demographic flies
Stay klassy AA. Special thanks to the USAiways boys for making it the Greyhound of legacy carriers. Discount Dougie’s kids will all be able to fly private their whole lives and avoid the disgusting mess he helped create.
@John T Burkholder — Kind sir, may you please specifically identify what and whom you are referring to with the words “this demographic”? Thank you. This is a safe space. Use as explicit of terms as you wish.
@Mike Hunt — At least they didn’t hold the plane for a family member of the CEO… *cough* SkyWest *cough* (@L737, thassa VFTW-callback!)
@1990 – I await your sources showing other demographics behaving in a similar manner.
@Michael Mainello — “SOURCE!!!” That’s a good meme, sir.
Of course it was Miami.
Nothing new to see here. Another Miami flight on another day that ends in ‘y’.
@1990 – Yeah, I didn’t anticipate an answer. You are just an antagonist.
That’s why keeping Spirit in business with nickel prices is very important to the society.
Yikes.
@1990 — Callback! (PS swung by JFK T4 yesterday, wonderfully decadent as always)
@L737 — How deliciously absurd!
@Michael Mainello — Ask a silly question; don’t expect a serious reply.
@1990 – Deflect, Deny & Disrupt.
No it is not group 8 behavior. Most people in group 8 behave even though they get the worst treatment. There have been plenty of reports of bad behavior in the expensive seats, too. Some people have been trained to go off at the slightest provocation.
I feel proud to be based in MIA. The air travel melting pot of the western hemisphere. The place where you really have to “walk a mile for a Camel” (concourse D). The facility where it took “The Boys Downtown” 2 years to procure a luggage cart vendor, etc etc etc. At least “The Premium Airline” still flys here.
Reminds me again of why I pay for premium class even if I have an exit row seat in coach. Less chance of hood rat interactions.
Looks like a Carnival Cruise was leaving that day.
Out of morbid curiosity, when people are told that they have to gate check their carry on luggage, how many of them actually bother to remove stuff like lithium batteries first?
@Michael Mainello – For the love of God, take your disgusting stupid vile racist bigoted MAGA-cultist a$$ (and keyboard) and crawl back under whatever rock you crawled out from.
@Polite
You and others may be disgusted by Michael Mainello’s comments, but what do you gain by reacting in public? Will he cease making comments that upset other readers of this blog? I doubt it. Will your comment change his behavior? I doubt that. So, what have you gained? You’ve enjoyed the right of freedom of speech. You’ve vented, shared your opinion, and given other readers an insight into your character.
I, too, have done that. Perhaps we’ll both enjoy life more for having done so.
Black Lives Matter
Another reason the big airlines should NOT have Basic Economy!
@Polite RE: Michael Mainello
+1 to that
@Vazir Mukhtar – Tell me why is it racist? Does your doctor ignore symptoms when you go in sick? Does a mechanic ignore problems when you take your car in to be fixed.
There is a systemic problem with this race. Ignoring and excusing it only encourages more bad behavior. Maybe addressing the problem and trying to fix it would help everyone. Just a thought.
If my comments upset you, please tell me why?
Michael Mainello: your comments don’t upset me. They make me utterly nonplussed. You’re making comments that disregard everyday reality. You’re making comments that teenagers who think they know everything make. You’re just speaking from a place of utter ignorance.
It’s probably not your fault. I suspect you were raised that way and haven’t bothered to reflect on what you were taught.
No one here owes you an education. No one here owes you answers to your simplistic questions. No one is denying or disrupting anything. Refusing to engage is a choice, and doesn’t mean what you think it means.
Doctors might ignore some symptoms. A person might have a serious pain and ask for pain meds. The doctor might want to find out the source of the pain and treat THAT instead of just the symptom.
You poor confused man. I hope you get the help you need and deserve.
@ WearyWatchdog: +1, nicely written, nicer than he/she/they/it deserves. And saves me the time to tell him/her/they/it that obviously few people chose to engage with him/her/they/it .
@ WileyDog: Thank you.
@ Vazir Mukhtar: I’ve seen the name here and on other blogs and discussion boards MANY times, I rarely respond. The comments do not disgust me, it’s more sympathy for the ignorance and stupidity, and annoyance that many people of similar ilk today have bigger soapboxes. And yes, just maybe the behavior will change, never know what might be the impetus for someone to change their mind and their vote. Perhaps between “bigly” (using a word they might understand) ignored and multiply chastised/insulted the author will go away.
@WearyWatchdog: Yours is a cowards answer. Be an adult and tell me where I am wrong. When I commanded soldiers I treated everyone as equals. Initially I had more problems with black soldiers because they thought they could flaunt the rules and regulations. After a couple of months, they realized I treated them as adults and equals.
Black males (7% or so of the population) murders and violent crime are multitudes higher than white crimes. The black on white crime rate dwarfs the opposite. My point is the persons behavior should not be accepted, she should receive equal punishment as anyone. She should not be patted on the head and told “thats OK, don’t do it again.”
Hopefully my simple answer makes sense to you.
@1990 STFU you woke clown
She’s ghetto, and I hope she pays a big fine and time in jail. I hope ice reports her far away.
The choke hold is a valid de-escalation procedure!
Hopefully a social version of a mechanic or a doctor will figure some kind of final solution for the disease that u are talking about. I dont think you are racist because based on your name you are likely Italian so u are basically from that demographic.. Most of “true” Europeans knows italy is basically africa (exceptions apply north of Tuscany). I applaud you for trying to improve your people.
I r a self indulgent troll.
Thank you for your attention
@Michael Mainello is dumb and mean. A dangerous combination. Just look at his hero in the Oval Office.
@1990.1 — Bah!
@Buck — You first.
@Michael Mainello — Rough day for you. Orban out. JD failed in Pakistan. Lose in Hormuz. Yikes. And about 200 days until the midterms. Uh oh…
This incident reinforces my personal policy not to fly American. I live in a major metro area with an airport which is not a hub for any airline. My previous experiences with the AA have made me realize that they have little regard for the well being of their passengers.
@Michael Mainello — Good Monday morning for you… “Oil Climbs Back Above $100″… and also “President Says Gas Prices Might Not Drop by Midterms”… Oof. Tell us about ‘short-term pain, long-term gain’ again… *facepalm*
@ Gary Leff — You mean group 9.
Flying by private charter has never been more worth it.
I found this incident really surprising—it shows how quickly frustration over something as small as personal space can escalate, especially in the stressful environment of a crowded flight. It made me think about how tense air travel can become when people are tired, confined, and eager to land. It also reminded me how important patience and basic respect are in shared spaces like airplanes.