This is possibly the most uncivilized behavior I’ve ever seen filmed on a plane… and that’s saying a lot. This even caused an arrest, and the bail for the passenger who is accused of being the instigator has been set at $150,000.
Fight erupts on Spirit Airlines flight
Sunday afternoon’s Spirit Airlines flight from Newark to San Juan didn’t end too well, as a huge fight was caught on video. This happened at around 7PM, shortly after the plane landed at San Juan’s Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport.
In it you can see passengers trying to knock one another out, police tase and arrest a passenger, and more. Here’s video footage of the incident, to start:
Why do people have to act like this? I just don’t get it. I get tensions are high in this country (in terms of politics, being tired of coronavirus, etc.), but please don’t act this way.
What caused this Spirit Airlines incident?
As usual there are several sides to every story, so what do we know about this incident? David Begnaud does a good job recapping the situation on Twitter:
- According to police, 24-year-old Nyasy Veronique Payne “provoked an incident by acting in what witnesses called an aggressive, hostile, and defiant behavior,” as she hit a 28-year-old man
- The man who filmed the above video claims the fight broke out because the woman (who is seen punching, and then tased) refused to wear a mask
- The woman ended up being arrested, spending the night in jail, and bail was set at $150,000
Another passenger claims that this isn’t quite what happened. According to him, the situation escalated long before what’s seen on video:
- During the flight there was another passenger who kept moving around and switching seats, and wasn’t wearing a mask
- Flight attendants asked the passenger to stop, though he refused, so the plan for police to meet the flight came long before the incident seen on video
- There were apparently three women traveling with the above man who also weren’t wearing masks, and refused to listen to the crew
- Once on the ground, three men began yelling homophobic and racial slurs at three Black women; one of those men apparently hit the woman first, and that’s the point in the above video at which you see her starting to punch people
This is just plain sad…
There are conflicting reports as to what the initial cause of the fight was, though I’m inclined to believe that the situation already escalated prior to what’s seen on video, given how fast the police is onboard (or who knows, maybe the police meets every Spirit Airlines flight from Newark to San Juan… that wouldn’t surprise me either).
Regardless, this situation just makes me sad. Wear a mask. Don’t be racist and homophobic. Deescalate situations, especially on a plane. And don’t get physical (or verbal).
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