A Chicago-bound American Airlines flight had to be diverted to Indianapolis Monday after an unruly woman punched another passenger and a flight attendant - and the entire episode was caught on camera.
Airline spokeswoman Laura Masvidal said Flight 1284, which departed from Miami, landed around 5.45pm at Indianapolis International Airport.
Jeff Dutton, the airport's communications manager, says the belligerent passenger had to be restrained during the flight by other travelers and was taken to the back of the plane, where she was heard yelling profanities.
in Indianapolis Monday
Dutton said the pilot decided to divert the flight after the woman struck a flight attendant and a male passenger sitting in front of her.
According to Dutton, the woman also kicked an airport police officer as she was being led off the plane.
Upon landing, the woman was arrested on three counts of battery, criminal recklessness, disorderly conduct and disruption the operation of an aircraft.
Passenger Jim Saviano had his cell phone at the ready as the woman was escorted off the plane by police.
In the clip, the passenger - a Caucasian brunette in her 20s or 30s - appears disheveled as she is led down the aisle by two officers.
At one point, she looks at one of the cops and tells him something inaudible, prompting the officer to turn her face away from him.
In another video shot by traveler Brian Salvi, the woman is heard crying out: 'Owww, call my mom!' as the cops lead her towards the exit with her hands restrained behind her back with what appears to be zipties.
Speaking to the Chicago station WLS after the plane landed with a 90-minute delay, passenger Maria Frendt said the woman appeared disoriented throughout the entire flight, was having trouble finding her seat and was sweating profusely.
The situation escalated when, according to Frendt, the passenger started kicking the seat in front of her. When the man occupying that seat turned around to complain, the woman allegedly hit him.
A flight attendant then intervened and led the woman to the back of the plane. As she was trying to calm the troublemaker down, Jim Saviano said out of nowhere the passenger grabbed the stewardess, kissed her and then punched her in the face.
A pilot's voice soon came over the plane's PA system asking for passengers’ help in restraining the woman.
On his twitter page, Saviano, a DJ from Los Angeles, described a chaotic scene aboard the aircraft in that moment: 'Just had emergency landing..pilot aggressively yelled cabin lock down everyone in their seats/need large men to restrain a psngr [sic] immediately.’
Darnell Wilson, of Chicago, was one of the four men who answered the pilot's call and helped detain the out-of-control traveler.
‘She was on the ground,’ Wilson said. ‘She wouldn't stand up. She kept hollering that she was going to mess herself, like she was cursing people out. It was really absurd.’
When the plane landed in Indianapolis, the woman was transferred into the custody of Marion County Sheriff's deputies and taken to Marion County Jail. She has not been named as of Tuesday morning.
The flight left Indianapolis shortly after 7pm, arriving in Chicago 43 minutes later.
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