Flight Diverts to Alabama To Remove Woman Wearing Only T-Shirt And Underwear

United Express flight UA4332 from Jacksonville, Florida to Houston diverted to Mobile, Alabama last Thursday when a 25 year old passenger on the CommutAir plane ‘became disruptive’ and stripped down to her underwear according to the airline.

Sierra Nicole McClinton “got into an altercation with another passenger…before ultimately being detained by a flight attendant and another passenger.”

When she was escorted off the plane by law enforcement in Mobile she was “wearing only a t-shirt and underwear..and was yelling obscenities.” She was charged with disorderly conduct and public intoxication.

The woman headed to jail instead of home to Houston, while the rest of the flight continued on.

Now, I understand that altercations happen when people from a variety of backgrounds and with their own lives and issues are sealed in together into a metal tube for hours at a time. Add in alcohol and judgment can get compromised. But where is it standard practice to remove your clothing in public as an expression of displeasure with someone else? How is that the response this woman thought of?

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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  1. From the mugshot alone, you can tell this is an upstanding person who fell victim to a lapse in judgment. This is not a person who demonstrates such behavior as a pattern. My sympathies pour out, and I wish this person an expedient clearance through the legal system and return to unscathed normal life.

  2. @Jonathan he likely thinks she’s pretty and doesn’t look like a meth-mouth coming from FL those are two high class attributes/s

  3. “Masks Matter” — Joe Biden. Come on man – poor maskless Sierra would not have been in trouble if she had only paid attention to the words of Creepy Uncle Joe.

  4. Everyone, Gary left out a key piece of info: she was so drunk she puked in her own lap, which is why she had to take off her pants. DUH!

  5. I think she is like the character Randy from the show Trailer Park Boys, who frequently engages in verbal altercations, but only takes his pants off when he is super pissed and is committed to getting physical. He does this for enhanced freedom of movement, as he wears tight pants.

  6. FYI, per several articles in Mobile media, Ms. McClinton is not from Florida, but from Universal City, Texas. It’s a suburb of San Antonio.

  7. A momentary lapse due to legalized hallucinogenic consumption. Her freedom to ‘use’ causes you to miss a connecting flight. But let’s not hold her responsible. Poor thing.

  8. She was probably drinking because she had to take United after missing her originally booked flight on her usual carrier — Spirit Airlines

    No video, Gary? So disappointed! Click-baiter!!

  9. @AlohaDaveKennedy
    Thanks for another example of people without valid arguments resorting to name-calling.

    As for the article, all one has to do is google “a Florida man” or a Florida woman” to get insight into her type.

  10. A couple of years ago flying to London on BA in business they handed out the pajamas and a 50ish lady across the aisle from me stripped down to panties and bra and put on her pajamas. Did the reverse as we were coming into London. Not a word said to her, so I’m thinking that the altercation and throwing up on herself, if that’s is fact, created the diversion. You think you’ve heard and seen it all but the world just keeps getting stranger and stranger.

  11. “But where is it standard practice to remove your clothing in public as an expression of displeasure with someone else? ” Well maybe that is because that is not what happened. Simple research into the story explains that she was drunk and threw up on herself. She removed her pants because she had thrown up on herself and another passenger took issue with that and that is how the altercation started. She never started stripping down because she got in an argument with someone. Her removing the pants was what triggered the argument.

  12. Can’t diagnose from just a pic but… affective disorders wreak havoc on a person’s behavior.

  13. Why she didn’t took off underwear??
    And million dollar question: why I was not present there?

  14. Who is gona pay for stop.extra fuel extra pay for flight crew, lost connection by other passengers and their wasted time. Why this people are not responsible for losses for the airline and other Customers? Its time we make nuts responsible for their sick actions and hurt them financially. I bet there would be fewer incidents on board.

  15. I just saw the video that someone recorded during the altercation with the passenger. This chic is disgusting and thankfully was arrested. She spit on the passenger! I woulda punched her!

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