Several readers have brought this incident to my attention, as it seems to be getting a lot of attention in Brazil. I don’t really know what to say, other than “oy vey.”
In this post:
American Airlines passenger approaches flight deck, finds out
This incident happened on Thursday, April 24, 2025, and involves American flight AA950, operated by a Boeing 787-9, and scheduled to fly from Sao Paulo (GRU) to New York (JFK). The late night flight was delayed by a little over two hours on departure.
While the plane was on the ground, one of the passengers (an older lady) became frustrated and decided to approach the flight deck, to confront the pilot about the delay, demanding an explanation. Right at the flight deck door (which was open), a flight attendant tackled her, and threw her to the ground.
From there, the situation escalated with verbal abuse, including the passenger using homophobic slurs against the flight attendant. At least four passengers were reportedly removed from the flight.
Couldn’t this situation have been deescalated?!
Obviously some details here are murky, but based on everything I’ve read, this lady was awful and entitled. She reportedly used phrases like “you’re going to get screwed” and “do you know who you’re talking to” (translated from Portuguese). So yeah, she sounds quite unpleasant, no doubt.
At the same time, is it really necessary to tackle someone while an aircraft is on the ground, and the flight deck door is open? It doesn’t seem that she physically threatened anyone, or posed any sort of a risk to anyone’s safety. Of course no one should approach or enter the flight deck without permission, but it’s not like the plane was in the air.
Deescalation is a skill that many flight attendants unfortunately lack, and this seems to be one of those cases…
Bottom line
An American Airlines flight out of Sao Paulo was delayed by a couple of hours, and one passenger grew annoyed, and decided to approach the flight deck for answers. This resulted in her being tackled by a flight attendant, and being thrown to the ground. The woman sounds terrible, and made some pretty unsavory comments. But is this kind of a response warranted?
What do you make of this incident?
AA FAs often see passengers as a "necessary annoyance" and rarely put in professional effort on their job, but in this case, they were spot on in neutralizing the aggressive, entitled lady. By the way, rather than saying "oy vey," which is Spanish Mia-Cuban, you should say "Que barraco", in good Brazilian Portuguese :)
Her actions definitely seemed erratic. Who flies business class and then goes to the rear galley to complain about a 30-minute delay while the plane is actively taxiing for takeoff? Especially since the delay was apparently due to a necessary runway change because of weather.
It's quite possible she was under the influence of sleep or relaxation medication, which can sometimes cause agitation. Like Ben mentioned, the physical response – punching and throwing her down...
Her actions definitely seemed erratic. Who flies business class and then goes to the rear galley to complain about a 30-minute delay while the plane is actively taxiing for takeoff? Especially since the delay was apparently due to a necessary runway change because of weather.
It's quite possible she was under the influence of sleep or relaxation medication, which can sometimes cause agitation. Like Ben mentioned, the physical response – punching and throwing her down – seemed excessive, particularly as she didn't appear physically strong enough to pose a real threat.
I also felt for the guy in 1D. He wasn't involved with her but was clearly stressed, yelling at the flight attendant (Caio) potentially about excessive force, and telling the woman to be quiet. His tone was wrong, absolutely, but staying in his seat and not touching anyone suggests he wasn't a menace, likely just trying (badly) to de-escalate.
Wow, she takes an aggressive action to push into the cockpit. Deescalation was not the route. The FAs were right.
Who's the bloke in seat 1J who's already down to his underpants before the plane even starts to push back???
Any unauthorised attempt to gain access to the flight deck is a security risk.
Any potential security risk should be taken very seriously indeed.
Any woman engaged in a security risk scenario should be considered to be more dangerous than a man and dealt with appropriately.
First IA in an anti terrorist action should always be taken against the woman FIRST!
It would appear that the FA(?) who tackled the woman...
Any unauthorised attempt to gain access to the flight deck is a security risk.
Any potential security risk should be taken very seriously indeed.
Any woman engaged in a security risk scenario should be considered to be more dangerous than a man and dealt with appropriately.
First IA in an anti terrorist action should always be taken against the woman FIRST!
It would appear that the FA(?) who tackled the woman to the ground acted appropriately in that situation.
He should be congratulated not castigated.
I'm also curious what the large loudmouth in row 1 is screaming about. Sounds like he's screeching "Don't do this!" but my Brazilian Portuguese is rusty. And is he screeching at the lady or the FAs. Either way not at all helping the situation. I hope he was removed, too.
Yeah. Flights would be much easier to operate, if all passengers were removed before departure.
Ge real AC Guest - she got off lightly on American. On United they might have El Kabonged her with a guitar and dragged her down the aisle. Had she been flying Hertz Airways, she surely would have been arrested for stealing the plane.
Oh, by the way... when she says, "Do you know who you're talking to?" the reply should be "No, but if you will hum a few bars, I'll try to sing along."
The flight attendant's move reminded me of getting a deep dip from Samba. I must say it looked very gentle, considering the circumstance. Manners and de-escalation are a two way street. Be rude and get dipped.
You don’t wait to see if someone is a threat. Maybe only tackle someone after the first plane is flown into a building?
Even though the plane was on the ground, she could have had a firearm or other weapon and attempted to hijack the plane.
It was looks like this was a single aisle aircraft. Not a 787 or 777. Maybe the whole thing was staged.
One doesn't just walk up to the flight deck and demand anything...even on the ground. I have cockpit access at my company but I always show my ID to the flight attendant prior to just walking in. Several prior comments make total sense. Most flight attendants are not trained in the "art" of de-escalating potential issues. Another said that no one knows the passenger's intentions. Correct! People have used children or other persons incapable of...
One doesn't just walk up to the flight deck and demand anything...even on the ground. I have cockpit access at my company but I always show my ID to the flight attendant prior to just walking in. Several prior comments make total sense. Most flight attendants are not trained in the "art" of de-escalating potential issues. Another said that no one knows the passenger's intentions. Correct! People have used children or other persons incapable of defending themselves to gain access to a variety of "ask before you barge in" places. If this passenger was becoming overly aggressive, slamming her to the floor was justified. Toss her butt off the jet.
Don’t give me the “couldn’t this situation have been de escalated” bologna. Universal language in any country is approach the flight deck door, get tackled.
It is funny this Brazilian woman is upset the flight is delayed. Nothing ever leaves, departs, arrives, starts, or ends on time in Brazil. Get invited for a dinner party at 7 pm and arrive at 7 pm to see what happens. The host will send you back home. And I am Brazilian.
After being tackled to the ground, the lady seems quite unfazed and uninjured, walking unassisted and calmly saying: "I just wanted...
It is funny this Brazilian woman is upset the flight is delayed. Nothing ever leaves, departs, arrives, starts, or ends on time in Brazil. Get invited for a dinner party at 7 pm and arrive at 7 pm to see what happens. The host will send you back home. And I am Brazilian.
After being tackled to the ground, the lady seems quite unfazed and uninjured, walking unassisted and calmly saying: "I just wanted to know why the flight is delayed." Seems she is used to this kind of confrontation.
Dinner party at 7 pm, in Brazil? Are you crazy? Maybe in a Senior Home.
The “do you know who you’re talking to” part is very brazilian.
But as for flights, they are always very punctual in Brazil, perhaps better than the US.
This is the typical kind of incident which only ever happens on an American airline or alternatively on Ryanair flights from the UK to Spain.
Other parts of the world and other airlines don’t seem to see these kind of incidents.
The adventurous lady should have been ordered to her seat and could then have been taken off the flight for not complying with crew instructions (if she wasn’t complying with crew instructions)
This is the typical kind of incident which only ever happens on an American airline or alternatively on Ryanair flights from the UK to Spain.
Other parts of the world and other airlines don’t seem to see these kind of incidents.
The adventurous lady should have been ordered to her seat and could then have been taken off the flight for not complying with crew instructions (if she wasn’t complying with crew instructions)
Taking her down to the floor for approaching the open cockpit door on the ground is a bad joke.
Five yards and loss of down.
This shit looks straight out of a movie lmao.
First and foremost was she a true physical threat to the pilots? Second, the police should have been called immediately, she removed from the plane and trespassed from the airport. Taken to jail if she gave the cops any guff. These people need to be put on a total Do Not Fly List. Next time she can take a really slow boat to South America.
Doesn’t matter; you don’t know what her intentions are, bad guys have used children and people in wheelchairs to attempt to carry out acts on airplanes, or used as a diversion. Approach the flight deck, get decked.
I think most of us agree that Airlines and most of its employees lead the way on poor communication skills.
I think that most of us understand that the plot of "communication skills" likely has a fairly normal distribution for all humans, including those who choose to work in air travel.
Brazilians can sometimes be extremely challenging and drama queens, often causing scenes with yelling and aggressive behavior. She may have deserved it, but it's worth noting that Brazilians are even more litigious than Americans. I experienced a weather delay due to a severe storm while in Sao Paulo, and passengers were loudly demanding information about the situation and their rights. She was probably a supporter of Bolsonaro.
I see two factors at play in this incident. (1) Brazilians in general bear an anti-American sentiment from decades of leftist indoctrination in ours school system and from our biased media. This flight being operated by an American carrier, it might have played a role in this outburst. (2) You may see her behavior, and of other Brazilians in general, as challenging and drama queen like, but what is underneath is a sense of entitlement...
I see two factors at play in this incident. (1) Brazilians in general bear an anti-American sentiment from decades of leftist indoctrination in ours school system and from our biased media. This flight being operated by an American carrier, it might have played a role in this outburst. (2) You may see her behavior, and of other Brazilians in general, as challenging and drama queen like, but what is underneath is a sense of entitlement and lack of respect for authority that runs deep in the Brazilian culture. Civility, patience, politeness, and respect for others: these have never been valued in the Brazilian culture. We are more into immediate gratification and looking after our individual needs.
PERFECT
As with most videos missing the key part…what lead up to the incident. Wondering if she tried to force her way into the flight deck or pushed someone right before the video started. IDK either way classic FAFO.
She did tried to force her way into the flight deck - it's in the beginning of the video, as the pilot tried to close the door. That's when the tackling occurred.
Woman forgot that it's a god given right in America and at American companies that a white man is allowed to use whatever force they feel appropriate on a woman.
This wins asinine comment of the day, and it’s still early!
Completely asinine remark. YOU are not only stupid but a definite racist in the strictest definition.
Completely sexist and xenophobic comment.