On United Airlines flight 2247 from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. on Monday a Florida man engaged in a violent assault against another passenger.
44-year-old Everett Chad Nelson, seated at the rear of the plane, left his seat to use a forward lavatory on the Boeing 737 MAX 9. Upon coming out of the bathroom, he paused near seat 12F, where an unsuspecting male passenger was asleep. Without warning, he launched into a minute-long attack. Witnesses describe Nelson repeatedly punching the man in the face and head, causing significant injury and leaving the immediate area covered in blood.
The FBI’s report details that Nelson’s assault left the victim with two black eyes and a lacerated nose. Blood spattered across the seat, window, wall, and onto Nelson’s own green windbreaker. The attack came without an apparent motive, and authorities confirm that there was no previous interaction between the two men.
A fellow passenger ultimately intervened, restraining Nelson and separating him from the battered victim, who then received first aid from a doctor onboard. Following the assault, United crew members relocated Nelson to the front of the aircraft, where he was monitored for the remainder of the flight. There were 81 other passengers on board.
According to a United spokesperson,
Thanks to the quick action of our crew and customers, one passenger was restrained after becoming physically aggressive toward another customer on a flight from San Francisco to Washington Dulles on Monday. The flight landed safely and was met by paramedics and local law enforcement.
Boeing 737 MAX 9, credit: United
The violent outburst carries potential jail time of up to a year in prison for felony assault as well as FAA administrative penalties. He’s certainly going to receive a lifetime ban from United Airlines. Occurring on the same day that passengers in premium economy on a British Airways flight headed to Austin erupted into violence of a MAGA hat, the world is definitely getting weirder.
(HT: Paul H)
Sigh – playing into the “Florida man” theme huh? Has ZERO impact where he lives so not sure why you had to play that card. Sad
@Retired Gambler
The perpetrator was indeed a resident of Florida, and he certainly lived up to that negative stereotype, so the identifier here (and in other articles on this incident) is both appropriate and telling. Don’t defend the indefensible.
News articles and government reports about this incident refer to the perpetrator as a Florida resident and being a man.
This is messed up even for Florida Man.
@John tries his best to be a moral authority and appear as though he is taking the high road, but he can’t help himself to slip in that [the man being a resident of Florida] “certainly lived up to that negative stereotype”. Sorry, John, @Retired Gambler was right, and your response was pitiful.
He gets light punishment for doing that — up to a year in jail?
If it’s only up to a year in prison it’s not a felony. If it’s a felony, it’s more than a year in prison. Hopefully the latter.
Any unprovoked beatdown on a sleeping passenger should earn a year for each punch thrown. And a mandatory probation with no ability to travel. This dude is a menace!
@KPR: It looks like up to 1 year in prison is correct. Serious bodily injury is required for more than that, which is risk of death or long-term impairment of organ/major body member function.
Not a felony.
If the passenger was Mr. Pelosi, the puncher would get life in prison with no parole.
It’s good to hear that proper justice was brought against the perpetrating passenger, but they may also wanna do a Psychological test on this person to see why he went all Ape shit on a flight
The passenger who was assaulted needs to bring a private civil action against the perpetrator. A year in jail is one thing, but depending upon the damages suffered (fractured orbital sockets, etc.), a judgment of a few million dollars would help. Having a house, car, and other personal possession attached and sold to satisfy a portion of a judgment may be a better lesson.
@TexasTJ @Retired Gambler
You are right. Neither the state of residence nor the gender of the perpetrator is actually important. Anyone that does what Mr. Nelson did on that flight should be banned by the airline and prosecuted by the authorities. The irony is that I am a man, and I am from Florida. We are not all like that guy.
What happened to Mr Pelosi was horrific. The cops let that nutcake land a blow on Pelosi fracturing his skull. Why wasn’t he tased, pepper sprayed, tackled. If that had been your father I am sure you would have wanted swifter intervention.
@jsm: Assaults aren’t like car accidents where there’s an insurance company to pay out, so almost no one has assets worth suing them for. Their residence and vehicle are going to be protected, and most people just don’t have much more than that.
Even looking at the folks who won against Giuliani, who DOES have lots of assets… somehow that guy isn’t living poor and they’re having a tremendously difficult time getting their money.
Florida man stereotype ultimately derives from Florida’s increased level of transparency regarding crime reports (and indeed most other government paperwork). Easier to find weird stories from Florida because the government makes them more discoverable –> false conflation with idea that Florida hosts increased amounts of weirdness.
So, a lifetime no-fly list? Please!
So the MAN ruined everyone else’s flight, NOT the flight attendants or pilots.
Read that again. A bit of deflection is going on here.
I didn’t count but more than a few times I had to have this conversation with a teenaged student during my eight years as a high school counselor:j
Student shows up on my office, upset.
Student: “She/He (the teacher) wasn’t fair, was mean to me, blah, blah”
Me: “What did she do to you?” First I need to determine WTH is going on. Is the student being treated unfairly? If so, I’m on their side.
Student’ “blah blah blah” (Hmm, yep teacher has been triggered, now did the teacher have REASON to react negatively towards the student?)
Me: “You mean to tell me you were sitting IN YOUR OWN SEAT doing nothing wrong, completely innocent and she/he just started giving you a hard time?”
Student: “Nooooooo, I might have done/said blah, blah, blah”
Me: Laughs out loud at student, “Ha ha ha ha!! “That’s so funny! So you were doing something you shouldn’t have been doing, and you knew it, you got in trouble and now you are in my office telling me the teacher was mean to you? (I’m usually grinning at the student while saying this or overacting being horrified)
Me: “Now let me ask you this…
When you are in the classroom (feel free to substitute airplane here), WHO’S THE BOSS? Who’s IN CHARGE?” That’s right, NOT YOU.”
(Sometimes they said “Me” and then I got to roll my eyes at them and laugh some more lol)
The flight crew are in charge, NOT the passengers, for OUR SAFETY, not to show out, or “flex”.
Well, maybe they NEED to start flexing because people are not listening to them, no longer know how to act while on an airplane and don’t know who is in charge!
Repeat after me: “When on an airplane, I AM NOT IN CHARGE, THE FLIGHT CREW ARE.”
If you don’t know how to act on a plane, and can’t follow flight crew instructions, then you don’t get to fly. Unless you are a child and can be restrained by your parent. There are always exceptions.
Also, just as an aside, if you are male and don’t like females telling you what to do, you don’t get to FLEX on an airplane. Not sure if that was the case here, but who knows anymore with the way people are acting out on airplanes and in airports!
You know, had he ASKED PERMISSION to sit there, it might have all gone a different way.
Thanks for the nice update, @John !!!
Does “United crew members relocated Nelson to the front of the aircraft, where he was monitored for the remainder of the flight” mean a first class upgrade?
Was he restrained?
Maybe, having someone stick their kid next to you in first class isn’t so bad.
@Retired Gambler and the others with the same comment that stating the alleged perpetrator of the crime was from Florida was unnecessary is nonsense. You always identify where the alleged criminal is living. Just like in a crime on a plane, if possible, you identify the airline and flight number.
Think about, how important was the plane type, the plane manufacturer, the flight number, the destination city, the origin city, that it was a man or that the victim was a man. I submit that the fact that Boeing made the play and where the flight was coming from and going to isn’t important either, but none of you complained about that. Why not?
Frankly, any decent journalist is going to set the stage for you and where the perpetrator of the crime lived is part of that, as is the flight information. Frankly, you’re all wet about the article. That information was important to tell the story. You all just like to rant at Gary and say how bad he is, but I note that you keep coming back to read more by him. That says a lot about you, but we just don’t know yet if you’re gluttons or like the information we get here.
Horrific. Another nightmare I never considered.
1 year prison is way too short. This guy should be locked up for 5-10.
This dude just unlocked latest upgrade hack! Just beat the shit out of some unsuspecting fellow traveler and viola, straight to the front of the plane for warm nuts and More alcohol!
This is just awful! The victim has a disability too. He is deaf and non verbal. Can you even imagine? To be awoken being beaten to a pulp, poor guy.
Could we please go back to the days when this would go unreported on Greyhound?
Yeah, one year in not enough.
Would that Paul Harvey were alive to give us the rest of the story. We know nothing of the perpetrator’s mental health nor if the two men had a past history. IMO, some of these posts indicate interesting things about the make-up and mental health of those posting comments (mine included)
As I’ve always said, don’t name your kids Chad. Imagine the rage one accumulates going through life with that name lol.
@Upgrade_Hack said: “Just beat the shit out of some unsuspecting fellow traveler and viola, straight to the front of the plane for warm nuts and More alcohol!”
Yeah, i think the only way that guy got warm nuts is if he pissed himself while being duct taped until landing.