Outcry over Delta scuffle
A DELTA Air Lines pilot hit a passenger as she and two other women fought on the floor of a boarding ramp in Atlanta last week, according to a video released by TMZ.
Although the incident happened on April 21, the video rocketed around the internet on Saturday – another heated altercation as airlines are under scrutiny for mistreating people following a United Airlines passenger’s forced removal from a flight earlier this month.
The Delta video, apparently taken using a cellphone, shows three people cursing at each other, then fighting on the Jetway as shocked passengers watch or scramble to get out of the way.
At one point, one of the fighters takes the other woman to the ground, then wraps her legs around her neck and head in an apparently choke hold. That’s when the pilot, clad in his white shirt and pilot’s cap, walks over and tries to intervene. He grabs the woman’s wrist and strikes her, though it’s unclear whether he does it with an open or closed fist.
According to TMZ, the women “had gotten into a skirmish earlier, on the airplane, and they knew each other”.
No one was charged in the incident, including the pilot.
In a statement emailed to the Washington Post, Delta spokesman Brian Kruse said the pilot was trying to de-escalate an ongoing fight.
“We became aware of this incident and a video last week and immediately removed the pilot from duty while we completed a thorough investigation,” Kruse said. “Local law enforcement was called to respond at the time of the incident. The pilot has since been returned to work as our investigation found that his actions de-escalated an altercation between passengers on the Jetway floor during deplaning.”
But Kruse said he wasn’t authorised to give other details, including what airline personnel are instructed to do in those types of situations.
The Delta incident happened less than two weeks after the United passenger’s removal made international headlines and sparked a public-relations nightmare for United Airlines.
In that incident, a United official told passengers that they needed four passengers to give up their seats to accommodate off-duty crew members. When no one volunteered, the airline randomly selected four people. Three left without incident, but David Dao wouldn’t budge.
He later told one of the officers, “I’m not leaving this flight that I paid money for. I don’t care if I get arrested,” according to a police report.
In the ensuing struggle with officers, Dao fell and hit his mouth on a seat’s armrest. His lawyer said he broke his nose and lost two teeth. He went limp and the video captured him bleeding from the mouth as officers dragged him off the plane.