There are unruly and disruptive passengers, and then there are situations where law enforcement has to physically drag someone off a plane: Delta Air Lines confirms that police had to forcibly remove a woman from a plane in Detroit after she reportedly refused to comply with staff at the gate — and it was all caught on video.
A fellow passenger on the Delta flight headed to San Diego on Monday captured footage showing officers pulling an apparently limp woman down the aisle of the plane by her wrists.
Detroit airport officials said in a statement that the woman had refused to leave the flight at 8 a.m. and was pulled from the plane and subsequently arrested. Charges are pending.
“Delta Air Lines contacted Detroit Metropolitan Airport’s police department requesting assistance with a passenger who would not comply with boarding and baggage check procedures at a McNamara Terminal gate,” the statement said.
Delta confirmed to the Detroit Free Press that a passenger was removed from the flight, saying in a statement that the flight “incurred a slight departure delay due to a passenger not complying with boarding and baggage check procedures. The passenger was removed by local law enforcement and the flight was able to continue without further incident.”
The passenger who filmed the video told Rene’s Points travel blog that the woman refused to check in with the gate agent and “walked right on” the flight.
“[The] woman blew by gate agent and didn’t check in because she wasn’t an early boarder and [felt she] deserved overhead bin space,” her fellow passenger claims.
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist