On July 6, an unnamed passenger aboard a late-night flight found herself duct-taped to her seat after allegedly going ballistic and physically attacking flight crew while attempting to open an exterior door in mid-air.
The woman reportedly suffered some sort of mental episode about an hour into that night's two-hour American Airlines Flight 1774 from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to Charlotte, North Carolina (CLT), and physically assaulted at least one crew member, biting and scratching in her frenzied attempt to escape the cabin mid-flight.
Fellow passenger and TikTok user @lol.ariee later told the New York Post that, roughly an hour into the trip, the lights came on and crew members began hurrying up and down the aisle, talking in hushed tones. "Then we're gradually starting to hear more and more screaming, and we're like, 'Wait a minute,'" she noted.
The pilot finally addressed other passengers over the intercom, asking that they remain in their seats and referencing "a bad situation in the plane right now".
A flight attendant eventually explained to @lol.ariee that a first-class passenger had, "had an outburst and, like, had the urge to get off the plane. And, she was saying, 'I need to get off this plane', and, she went up to the exits and started banging on the doors, saying, 'You need to let me off this plane!'"
"I guess it took all five flight attendants to subdue her and, like, literally take her down," the TikTok user continued. "So, they pretty much took her down, put her in the seat and duct-taped her."
After they'd landed in Charlotte, @lol.airee posted footage to TikTok of the woman continuing to try to scream at deplaning passengers. She can be heard yelling, "You! You! You!" at them as they pass her in the aisle, while flight attendants calmly bid everyone else goodbye.
The brief video shows the unidentified woman with her hands and torso apparently strapped to the seat with silver duct tape, with her mouth also taped over, presumably to prevent her screaming for the duration of the flight once she'd been restrained.
It also shows paramedics waiting on the gangway with a stretcher, and American afterward said that the woman was reportedly taken directly to a local hospital for evaluation. The airline has placed her on its internal "no-fly" list pending an investigation into these events.
Confirming the details of the incident, an American Airlines representative told TMZ, "While in flight from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to Charlotte (CLT) on July 6, the crew on board American Airlines flight 1774 reported a potential security concern after a customer attempted to open the forward boarding door and physically assaulted, bit and caused injury to a flight attendant," and added, "For the safety and security of other customers and our crew, the individual was restrained until the flight landed at CLT and could be met by law enforcement and emergency personnel."
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