Two women were evicted from an American Airlines flight after one of them attempted to hide in the footwell of her friend’s first-class seat.
Flight 772 was due to travel from Dallas Fort Worth to Miami on Friday, October 30 when, according to an eyewitness account, a woman stood up from her seat in economy class and moved to sit with her friend while the plane was still boarding.
Evidently, the plan was for the friend to remain in first-class for the entire flight, as the pair allegedly thought that the prank would garner viewers for their YouTube channel, according to The Independent.
The eyewitness [username: MiamiAirport Formerly NY George] wrote about the incident on Flyertalk forum, saying, ‘I saw the friend crawl under the J seat (more exactly the television console) but began to watch a movie.’
A flight attendant noticed a purse sitting in the vacant seat while the plane was taxiing and knew that something was amiss because according to the manifest, the plane was full.
An in-flight announcement was made that requested that the missing passenger identify themself and travellers were informed that the plane could not take flight until all passengers were accounted for.
This is when the woman attempted to sneak back to her seat in economy but she was caught by the flight attendants.
The plane then returned to the gate because of a security issue and the first-class passenger allegedly began a tirade. According to MiamiAirport Formerly NY George: ‘[The Woman was] screaming that she’s being disrespected, did nothing wrong, she paid good money for her ticket and that she has a child at home waiting for her. By then she’s also taken off her mask.’
Both the Captain and a flight attendant told the woman that she would need to vacate the plane but she allegedly refused and continued to shout without wearing a mask. Eventually, both women were removed from the plane by police.
Another passenger was also removed by police for swearing at a flight attendant because of the delay.
The flight had already been delayed by 90 minutes after a catering truck collided with a cargo door, according to the eyewitness.
The flight departed from the Dallas airport about three hours behind schedule.
An American Airlines spokesperson told The Independent that ‘Before departing on 30 October, American Airlines flight 2205 from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to Miami International Airport (MIA) returned to the gate at DFW for an issue involving two passengers.’
‘The two passengers, travelling together, would not comply with seat assignments during taxi out. Law enforcement met the aircraft at the gate, the two passengers exited the aircraft and the flight departed shortly after.’
Picture: Wikimedia Commons
