Spirit Airlines Brawl Leads To Onboard Tasing & Arrest

Spirit Airlines Brawl Leads To Onboard Tasing & Arrest

46

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).

Conversations (46)
The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.
Type your response here.

If you'd like to participate in the discussion, please adhere to our commenting guidelines. Anyone can comment, and your email address will not be published. Register to save your unique username and earn special OMAAT reputation perks!

  1. bruh New Member

    Y'all blame this on Spirit, when its really just a reflection of Americans in general. I say this as an American - people are selfish as hell.

  2. TJ Guest

    Is being banned for life from Spirit such a bad thing really?

  3. dan Gold

    Puerto Rican Jails are to be avoided. Hope she enjoyed her time in one.

  4. Dan Guest

    Ben,
    I am disappointed by the following statement made in the closing of the article, "or who knows, maybe the police meets every Spirit Airlines flight from Newark to San Juan… that wouldn’t surprise me either."

    One should not remark that Newark travelers, Spirit Passengers, and Puerto Ricans traveling together should routinely greeted by police ... The undertones here are racist, classist, and disrespectful.

  5. InShanghai Guest

    What about Qatar? Strips many woman before boarding.

  6. InShanghai Guest

    Americans are just idiots.

  7. Anthony Guest

    Mucho calor. Ok this is latin blood which we know has heat for good reasons, lovers, but also for fighters. God Bless them all.

  8. edgar Guest

    Why blame Spirit here? This is the real representation of the American society...and everyone knows it very well without tuning in to CNN..

  9. iamhere Gold

    Spirit. One of the "discount carriers." No further comment needed.

  10. Lakesider Guest

    All I can conclude from many of the comments by the PC Marxists here is that it's fine to criticise if the offenders are Caucasian but not if they are Black or Hispanic. These fools think they are being considerate but they are simply being racist.

  11. Steven E Member

    Is this just troubled and frustration with bad behaviour or something more serious simmering in the country

  12. Kent Member

    Recently flew for business within India, where masks, face shields and sanitizers are mandatory and provided by the airlines. Never once on the dozen or so flights did I observe disorderly behavior nor frustration. Echoing @Emily: People tend to mistake individual privileges with personal freedom.

  13. Emily Guest

    I am confused by masks, vaccines and social precautions being political statements in the US. Furthermore, why is it that a majority of unruly behavior in-flight happen in the US? There is something terribly wrong with society and the idea of privileges in the US.

  14. Robert D Member

    I have taken a couple of flights recently. Many people are not wearing a mask or wearing it improperly with their nose out (which is the same thing as not wearing a mask. In addition, beverages and snacks are served so many people have their masks off for significant portions of the flight. What to do? I won’t be flying again for a while, I was actually pretty shocked how unsafe the whole experience feels.

  15. Cmorgan Gold

    Chad you are all that is wrong with today’s society. You are the poster child of the cancel culture. The OP is not selectively posting incidents involving minorities only, as you would have us believe. Go post your rankings on some other liberal PC blog. I am quite sure they will welcome you with open arms.

  16. Cmorgan Gold

    Bill I understand your viewpoint. Would love to have your points!

  17. Arizhel Guest

    @Chad: According to the end of the article, passengers on the flight allege it was really 3 racist white men who started it all, and threw the first punch.

  18. glenn t Diamond

    How dare @Chad exclude whites from this form of Spirited in-flight entertainment!
    Doesn't he know that America is bountiful with the very best/worst white trailer trash in the entire world? And that Spirit Airlines is their airline of choice?

  19. mauipeter Guest

    Anthony and John, that item upon which your hand is resting is called a 'mouse', or if you are using another device, it's just your finger. It gives you the infinite power to open or not open what you chose to read or not read, once you see the headline. So stop whining about what is published on this site. End of story.

  20. DavidS New Member

    Fly Spirithound, and leave the flying to us.

  21. Jebin Guest

    This is crazy . This is what you get when you book $20 return trip with spirit .

    Just pay extra and fly American or Delta for a peaceful journey with civilised people

  22. Commenting Commenter Member

    Literally, Lucky said in the last paragraph "Don’t be racist and homophobic." Then you have Grant's comment. Amazing…

  23. John Guest

    I came for genuine airline/travel news. I got Jerry Springer instead. It's lean pickings right now, I get it, but does this trash masquerading as 'news' really need to get posted?! Even as a salutary lesson its not worthwhile.

  24. Miguel Guest

    Chadwick , you sly little prick, nicely done. You just spilled your poison, (ape-like nature and maturity of Blacks) and went on blaming my innocent Matzo Ball pounding innocent boy .

  25. George Member

    The US needs a public funded health system. One that covers psychiatry and psychology plus medicine. A family doctor and a primary health care system that focus on prevention of any kind of disease, including mental ones. It would not solve 100% of the problems, but it would surely help society as a whole.

  26. Chad Guest

    What is the point of this article? To tacitly -- and without explicit commentary -- draw attention to the alleged ape-like nature and maturity of Blacks and Hispanics?!? Outrageous. This is just another white privileged report on the trials and tribulations of less advantaged tiers in our society.

    Only 1/3 of the U.S. population is Black or Hispanic, yet nearly 100% or the OMAAT blog posts regarding violent behavior and airline brawls involve this demographic....

    What is the point of this article? To tacitly -- and without explicit commentary -- draw attention to the alleged ape-like nature and maturity of Blacks and Hispanics?!? Outrageous. This is just another white privileged report on the trials and tribulations of less advantaged tiers in our society.

    Only 1/3 of the U.S. population is Black or Hispanic, yet nearly 100% or the OMAAT blog posts regarding violent behavior and airline brawls involve this demographic. Systemic racism [on this blog] is alive and well!

  27. Bill2 Guest

    Disappointing article. Don't really need the Jerry Springer content can get that anywhere.

  28. Rick New Member

    I hope Matthew keeps posting these stories. These passengers need to be shamed, not that many of them are probably capable of feeling shame.

  29. Aaron Guest

    @Michael Hinz - They have a mask on when they board. This allows them to walk past the gate agent and flight attendants at the boarding door. But once they are seated, at some point during the flight, they take the mask off or pull it down around their chin. Then, problems ensue.

  30. Kevin Gold

    Friends don’t let friends fly Spirit!

  31. Miguel Guest

    Woohoo let the games begin. The least they could do to elevate the level of entertainment would be to allow baseball bats onboard!

  32. Frank Gold

    @anthony We need this to move from Worldstar to Homestar. Just substitute Strong Bad and Trogdor the Burninator.

    EVERYBODY TO THE LIMIT!

  33. Stc Guest

    We must wear masks: https://www.flyertalk.com/articles/study-odds-of-catching-covid-19-from-flying-1-in-27-million.html

  34. Michael Hinz Guest

    This mask thing is crazy. First, why were these people allowed on board without a mask? I would be just as irate with those people moving around the cabin with no mask. This isn’t a matter of freedom. It’s a matter of safety and health. I’m with the other person. I’m retired. Wished I’d done a little more traveling when I was younger, but I will never fly again. I made that decision on a Southwest flight 3 years ago. Flying is no longer comfortable.

  35. Jeffrey Chang Guest

    The ultimate issue is that this was SPIRIT airlines. As was said before, its the Greyhound of the skies. Just fly Delta.

  36. Steve_CC Guest

    and they said removing the IFEs would take away all the on-board entertainment options...

  37. Matt M Guest

    @Grant-racist much?

  38. Grant Member

    Can’t wait for PR statehood. Perhaps this is how they choose their two new Senators.

  39. George N Romey Member

    Like I always say I loved to go back to 1965 and ask a bunch of flyers would you like to see what air travel will be like in 2020? You could imagine their dreams of super sonic luxury. Then the looks on their face when I would show them this video.

  40. Peter Diamond

    @Bill adopt me and send 'em my way!

  41. Anthony Diamond

    I said this on Gary’s blog and I’ll say it’s here, I am starting to get annoyed by these WorldStar-type posts and videos on travel blogs. We get that some customers behave badly, but not every incident deserves posting. Incidents that involve crew and interpretations of travel rules are relevant, but brawls and fights just show people in a bad light for pure entertainment, and take advantage of people at their worst moments

  42. Bill Guest

    I’ve given up on traveling...forever. I’m glad I saw the world with my family when I was young. Retirement years will be spent reading books by the fireplace. No one will allow Americans into their countries anyway. I can’t even cross state lines without a quarantine upon return. Vaccines won’t fix that. A new president won’t fix that. People are scared and offended by everything and anything. We’re toast. Now what to do with all my points..........

  43. CG Guest

    This is the typical behavior of Spirit airlines passengers. There have been numerous incidents on Spirit airlines like this. I've commented many times here on why spirit is the worst airlines ever. Spirit is the greyhound of the skies and should be avoided at all cost. I'm being snobbish and so what!

  44. Max Guest

    The US definitely needs a 'social scoring' system like China already has...

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

bruh New Member

Y'all blame this on Spirit, when its really just a reflection of Americans in general. I say this as an American - people are selfish as hell.

0
TJ Guest

Is being banned for life from Spirit such a bad thing really?

0
dan Gold

Puerto Rican Jails are to be avoided. Hope she enjoyed her time in one.

0
Meet Ben Schlappig, OMAAT Founder
5,163,247 Miles Traveled

32,614,600 Words Written

35,045 Posts Published

Keep Exploring OMAAT