An unruly woman who was duct-taped to her seat aboard an American Airlines flight last July has been stuck with a massive fine.
The unidentified woman was traveling from Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, to Charlotte, North Carolina, and allegedly demanded to get off the plane, repeatedly hit a flight attendant, and attempted to open the cabin door during the flight, forcing officials to duct tape her down. The $81,950 fine is the largest in the Federal Aviation Administration’s history.
“If you are on an airplane, don’t be a jerk, and don’t endanger the flight crews and fellow passengers. If you do, you will be fined by the FAA,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told the View last week.
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Video of the sticky situation, which has been taken down, began circulating on social media last year. The passenger fell into the aisle of the plane and began her outburst before landing. The flight had been delayed by about three hours, which dampened the mood aboard the plane.
The woman was brought to a hospital after the plane landed, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police took control of the situation.
Earlier this month, the FAA also levied its second-largest passenger fine, a $77,272 penalty against a Delta Air Lines passenger on a flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta last July. The passenger sought to kiss and hug the person sitting next to her on the flight and then walked to the front of the craft and refused to sit down, forcing the crew to restrain her, per the FAA.
“Federal law prohibits interfering with aircraft crew or physically assaulting or threatening to physically assault aircraft crew or anyone else on an aircraft,” the FAA said in a statement. “Passengers are subject to civil penalties for such misconduct, which can threaten the safety of the flight by disrupting or distracting cabin crew from their safety duties.”
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Since the beginning of the year, the FAA has levied roughly $2 million in fines against unruly passengers. Rowdy passengers aboard U.S. flights appear to be on the rise.
Last year, the FAA conducted 1,099 inquiries into passengers, up from 183 in 2020, and 146 in 2019. So far, in 2022, the agency has investigated 345 complaints against passengers.
