It’s not uncommon to see passengers misbehaving on flights, and for law enforcement to be called. However, in this case it seems that a crew member may have taken matters way too far.
Terrell Davis has incident on United flight
Former NFL star Terrell Davis (who played for the Denver Broncos until 2001) took to Instagram to share an event that unfolded on Saturday, July 13, 2024, while he was traveling on United Airlines from Denver (DEN) to Orange County (SNA). 51-year-old Davis was traveling with his wife and two kids. Let me just share his version of events verbatim.
Here’s how Davis claims that this event unfolded:
During the beverage service, my son politely requested a cup of ice. The flight attendant either didn’t hear or ignored his request and continued past our row. I calmly reached behind me and lightly tapped his arm to get his attention to again ask for a cup of ice for my son.
Then here’s how Davis claims that the flight attendant responded:
He shouted “don’t hit me” and left the cart to hurriedly approach the front of the plane. I was confused, as were the passengers in front of me who witnessed the exchange. I thought nothing of it other than this particular employee was incredibly rude and blatantly wrong in his accusations of me hitting him. I did not see or interact with him further for the duration of the flight.
Then here’s what happened when the plane landed:
As we landed in Orange County, the pilot asked all passengers to remain seated, six FBI and law enforcement agents boarded the plane. The FBI agents and local authorities proceeded directly to my seat and immediately placed me in handcuffs, while seated and without any explanation, in front of my wife and children while the entire flight of passengers watched in silence. I was — and remain — humiliated, embarrassed, powerless, and angry.
During questioning, it was rightfully determined by the agents that this flight attendant was inaccurate in his accusations and the agents profusely apologized even offering to support me and my family in any way possible. I have yet to hear anything from United Airlines.
United investigating, suspends flight attendant
In a statement, United Airlines has confirmed that it has “removed the flight attendant from duty while we closely review this matter.”
The airline also stated that “this is clearly not the kind of travel experience we strive to provide, and we have reached out to Mr. Davis’ team to apologize.”
Davis has retained legal counsel, and also added the following about what his requests are:
I demand a thorough and proper investigation into the flight attendant who blatantly lied and placed undue harm on me and my family. These lies and the ensuing events have the capacity to tarnish the reputation I have spent decades building, and this person should not be able to do this again to anyone in the future.
The handling of this sounds unacceptable
Let me of course acknowledge that we have only one side of the story here. However, everything I’ve seen about this story makes me believe that this isn’t too far off from what transpired. Davis has a reputation for being a stand-up guy (or so I hear), and the way he describes the events that transpired also seems quite level-headed.
Now, in my opinion, you should never touch a flight attendant, even to get their attention. Unfortunately it is something that passengers do all the time, and I’ve even seen some flight attendants start to announce over the PA to please not touch the crew members.
That being said, simply touching a flight attendant shouldn’t be a reason to have the FBI called. I mean, if it were, we’d see the FBI meet just about every flight. It would have been totally fair if the flight attendant politely said to him “please don’t touch me,” but this level of escalation is absolutely wild.
Was there really a single interaction between the flight attendant and the passenger, and it escalated this much? Based on what we know (and hopefully a full investigation is performed), this sounds like a power trip on a completely different level.
Bottom line
A former NFL star was flying United Airlines with his family, and touched a flight attendant to get his attention, and ask for a cup of ice for his son. This resulted in the flight attendant reportedly yelling “don’t hit me,” running to the front of the plane, and the FBI meeting the flight.
Assuming the details here are mostly accurate, United has some serious training to do when it comes to deescalating conflicts.
What do you make of this United incident?
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