An alleged unruly customer aboard a JetBlue Airways flight on Tuesday was restrained by multiple passengers and then was turned over to law enforcement upon landing in New York City from London, the airline said.
The chaotic scene was apparently captured on video and posted on Instagram.
JetBlue said in a Thursday statement the incident occurred on flight 1926 from London to New York City.
The name of the alleged rowdy passenger was not released by the airline. JetBlue also didn’t specify if the passenger was arrested upon the flight landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
According to the flight-tracking site, FlightAware, the flight, which took off seven minutes early, landed 26 minutes early at 3:16 p.m.
The incident occurred when the passenger “began acting erratically and aggressively toward his travel companion and members of the inflight crew,” the statement said.
The crew found an “open bottle of liquor the customer brought onboard and indications of intoxication,” JetBlue said.
“For everyone’s safety, the customer was restrained with the assistance of other customers who were witnessing this threatening behavior. The flight landed safely at New York’s JFK Airport where it was met by law enforcement who took over the situation. We appreciate our customers’ assistance and understanding during this incident and apologize for the experience,” the statement said.
Apparent video of the incident shows at least four men attempting to physically restrain another man aboard the flight. While the men are trying to get the passenger under control, multiple people are seen standing up as the tussle moves from the aisle, into an aisle seat and then back into the aisle.
People are heard shouting orders, like “I need you to back up.” A woman is also on the video and appears to say, “Babe, babe, stop fighting them! Stop fighting them! Babe!”
Shortly after, a man, who is attempting to physically restrain the passenger, also is heard saying, “Take him down!”
At times, the men trying to subdue the passenger move their arms and hands toward the man’s head and neck as he tries to wiggle free. What appears to be a woman’s voice is also heard sobbing, according to the video.
JetBlue did not immediately respond Thursday afternoon to a question about whether the Instagram video was shot aboard flight 1926.
The Port Authority police about 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday received a report of a disturbance aboard JetBlue flight 1926. The plane landed safely at JFK and no arrest was made by them, an agency representative said on Thursday.
Other videos that circulated around Thanksgiving, captured passengers allegedly causing chaos aboard two Frontier Airlines’ flights, one in which a woman pulled her pants down, horrifying onlookers. Another video showed a passenger yelling, midflight, she was being kidnapped.
Bad behavior on commercial flights rose 47% globally in 2022 compared with the previous year, according to data released in June by the International Air Transport Association, an airline trade group.
In April, federal officials said they referred more than 250 unruly airline passengers to the FBI for possible criminal prosecution since late 2021.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
