Passengers aboard a United Airlines flight from San Francisco headed for Houston witnessed a wild scene before the aircraft even took off.
A male passenger violently lashed out and physically attacked a flight attendant by repeatedly punching them and at one point tried to jump out of the plane, all allegedly because he and his wife were asked to move out of the wrong seat.
Naya Jimenez caught the distressing incident on video just after midnight on May 1 before the flight's departure from San Francisco International Airport.
Jimenez told Eyewitness News the man was furious after she asked him and his wife to move out of her assigned seat.
The request to correct the common misunderstanding did not sit well with the unnamed passenger, and things escalated from there.
The man proceeded to attack a crew member who was trying to tend to the situation.
\u201cAn angry passenger on a United Airlines flight had to be restrained by other passengers after he appeared to punch a flight attendant multiple times, story @abc13houston \nhttps://t.co/XvOw7PwId5\u201d— Elissa Rivas (@Elissa Rivas) 1683001614
Jimenez's video showed some fellow passengers trying to stop the enraged individual from repeatedly delivering blows to the United Airlines flight attendant.
\u201cAn unruly passenger was restrained after appearing to punch United employee during flight. @MonaKAbdi reports.\u201d— Good Morning America (@Good Morning America) 1683027680
Social media users commented on the ridiculousness of the disturbance.
\u201cThese passengers be wildin' on these flights \u2708\ufe0f \ud83d\ude29 \n\nhttps://t.co/b1rQgRGmFW\u201d— KB\u269c (@KB\u269c) 1683051476
\u201c@ABC7NY Fight Club still happening in the friendly skies I see...\u201d— Eyewitness News (@Eyewitness News) 1683065748
\u201c@ABC7NY Time for all airlines to ban people like this.\u201d— Eyewitness News (@Eyewitness News) 1683065748
Jimenez recalled:
"They had to bring in a gate attendant to try to talk to both of them."
"Then, he began slurring his speech a little bit, like, 'Sir, why are you smiling at me?' That's the first thing he said."
This occurred moments after the man tried forcing the emergency exit doors open to disembark after the boarding ramp had been removed.
\u201cPassenger on United Airlines flight to Texas allegedly punches flight attendants, attempts to jump from plane\n\nI would have pushed him out of the plane!\u201d— Chuck Pogue (@Chuck Pogue) 1683115722
\u201c@ABC7NY wait a sec. he wanted to jump out of the plane?\nshoulda held the door open so he could.\u201d— Eyewitness News (@Eyewitness News) 1683065748
Jimenez continued:
"After he paused for a minute, he ran toward where the pilot was, where the emergency exit doors are, and attempted to open it."
"(He) successfully opened the emergency exit and was about to jump down."
"The plane is elevated, so he would have jumped apparently two stories to the ground, and the flight attendants just kicked in, and everybody pulled him back to safety."
You can watch ABC 13's news report of the incident, here.
United Airlines confirmed the shocking incident in a statement shared with the New York Post.
A United spokesperson stated:
“On Sunday night, our team at San Francisco International Airport immediately contacted law enforcement officials after a customer became disruptive during boarding.”
“We’re grateful to our team in San Francisco for their professionalism in this situation and for looking out for the safety of our customers and their fellow United employees.”
Eyewitness News provided an update stating 47-year-old Cody Benjamin Lovins of Montgomery, Texas was arrested and cited for battery following the disturbance but then released.
