U.S. airline passengers have been steadily increasing since 2020, with 77.4 million passengers flying this past August versus 24.4 million in August 2020, per the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
A recent report from the International Air Transport Association suggests that unruly passenger incidents on airplanes are on the rise, increasing by 47% globally in 2022 over 2021.
In the U.S. alone, 250 unruly passenger cases have been referred to the FBI for possible prosecution, Fox News Digital previously reported.
Former FBI Special Agent Jonathan Gilliam, who was also an air marshal, previously said that part of the reason for the increase can be attributed to the fact that even the biggest airlines are now “no-frills airlines.”
“The care for the patrons is no longer there. A lot of that occurred because they got fed up with people during COVID. And the other problem is a lot of people left during COVID that were good flight attendants, and now they have, like every other industry, they have people who are just aren’t customer-service oriented,” he said.
Increased passengers and decreased on-flight pampering has created ample opportunity for airport and onboard mishaps, evidenced by the following bizarre airline happenings of 2023.
‘Possessed’ passenger creates chaos
A “possessed” Frontier Airlines passenger was filmed in a chaotic outburst in November, leading flight attendants to jump into action and one passenger to start preaching in the aisle.
A passenger whipped out their phone to capture the bizarre incident on the Nov. 16 flight from Houston to Denver.
The woman could be seen pulling away from crew members trying to restrain her, yelling to “stop pulling on my arm!” She then jumps over several seats on the plane, telling one person to “stop blocking [her]” before hitting another passenger.
During the chaos, an attendant speaks over the intercom: “Ladies and gentlemen, I need everyone to please take your seats, now, please.”
Later, the unruly passenger can be seen in the embrace of another woman in the back of the flight while another passenger stands to address the cabin.
“This does not happen for no reason … there’s a real devil that wants to kill each and every one of you all, including your family members,” the woman said. “That’s not her. She’s possessed and she needs help.”
The plane made an early landing in Dallas, per Frontier Airlines. It is uncertain whether the woman was taken into custody or a hospital after the incident.
Cargo pilot unable to rein in escaped horse on plane
An Air Atlanta Icelandic pilot was forced to dump 20 tons of fuel and circle back to John F. Kennedy Airport partway through a flight to Belgium when a horse on board wreaked havoc.
The Boeing 747 had just reached 31,000 feet 30 minutes after takeoff when its pilot placed a frantic call to air traffic control:
“We are a cargo plane with a live animal, a horse, on board,” the pilot can be heard saying in the recording captured by FlightRadar24. “The horse managed to escape its stall.”
“There is no issue with flying,” the pilot continued. “But we need to go back to New York as we can’t re-secure the horse.”
CARGO PILOT UNABLE TO REIN IN ESCAPED HORSE ON PLANE, FORCING RETURN FLIGHT TO JFK AIRPORT
A section of an aircraft model shows how horses are accommodated in the cargo hold. (Andreas Arnold/picture alliance via Getty Images)
The plane made a U-turn off the coast of Boston to dump about 20 tons of fuel over the Atlantic, “10 miles west of Martha’s Vineyard,” to reduce the flight’s weight for an early landing, the pilot told air traffic control.
As the fuel was dumped, the pilot asked that a veterinarian be available when the plane landed.
“I do believe we need a vet — veterinarian, I guess you call it, for the horse upon landing,” the pilot told the air traffic controller. “Is that something you can speak to New York about?”
Fourteen other horses needed to be removed from the plane upon landing, People reported. The loose horse was injured in the incident and had to be euthanized, according to John Cuticelli, chairman of the ARK at JFK, which “provides pre- and post-travel animal care and veterinary services,” its website says.
Family sues American Airlines over bathroom camera
American Airlines faced a federal lawsuit after one of its flight attendants allegedly taped a cellphone to a first-class bathroom seat and recorded a minor on Sept. 2.
Per the lawsuit filed in a North Carolina court, a 14-year-old girl was approached by a male flight attendant en route from Charlotte to Boston Logan International Airport in Massachusetts.
The attendant told her “it would be faster” for her to use the first-class bathroom instead. The male attendant went inside before she did, telling the girl that he needed to wash his hands before the crew began to pick up trash.
The family of the 14-year-old girl, who asked to remain anonymous, told Fox News Digital in a phone interview that their daughter is “very angry” and “shocked” that someone violated her privacy on the flight. (Provided)
“The toilet seat in there is broken,” the attendant allegedly told the minor, per the lawsuit. “But don’t worry about it. We’re going to get it fixed when we get back to Charlotte.”
After she’d used the restroom, the girl noticed a cellphone with its camera flash turned on under red tape that read “SEAT BROKEN.” The girl reportedly took a picture of the setup and showed her mother back at her seat; the male flight attendant, per the lawsuit, had gone back into the bathroom after her and locked the door. The girl’s mother “rushed” to the front of the plane to warn other passengers, per the suit, stopping a woman about to use the same restroom.
The flight attendant reportedly told the girl’s father that he had “nothing to do” with the incident when confronted by the girl’s father and was seen “tapping furiously” on his phone before handing it over to him for proof, per the suit. At that point, there were no photos from the bathroom on the device.
‘Crazy Plane Lady’ goes viral for tirade
Tiffany Gomas’ profanity-laced meltdown at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport went viral in July, with social media users summing up the rant with an acronym “TMFINR” or “That motherf—– is not real.”
Gomas has since embraced the incident, referring to herself as “crazy plane lady” and flipping the freak-out into a campaign for “promoting positive mental health and standing up against cyberbullying,” Fox News Digital previously reported.
The woman returned to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport – this time with photographers from “Inside Edition” in tow – to recreate the incident, complete with the iconic finger wag.
Tiffany Gomas says she used a figure of speech to explain an altercation with a passenger during her flight on “Jesse Watters Primetime.” (Fox News)
Gomas said later on the “Pardon My Take” podcast that an argument with a male passenger inspired the behavior.
“I literally did not see anything … it was an expression of speech,” she said.
Per police records reviewed by the New York Post, the woman accused a relative of stealing her AirPods that day.
“I had an altercation, and it was a really, really bad moment, not proud of it at all,” Gomas said on the podcast. “I feel horrible, horrible for everyone that was on that plane.”
Passenger allegedly hits crew, tries to jump from plane
A United Airlines passenger was forcibly restrained after allegedly assaulting a flight attendant and attempting to jump out of the plane’s emergency exit before takeoff.
Cody Benjamin Lovins, 47, reportedly flew off the handle on a May 2 flight from San Francisco to Houston after an altercation between his wife and another passenger over an assigned seat.
Naya Jimenez, who captured the subsequent meltdown on camera, said that Lovins’ wife blocked her when she tried to get into her assigned seat. Jimenez “sat at a seat [she] found nearby” until a flight attendant approached.
After Jimenez explained the situation, the flight attendant reportedly spent a half-hour trying to calm Lovins’ wife down and insisted that she let the other passenger into her seat.
At that point, Lovins said he and his wife had missed their flight and that between waiting times he had upgraded their seats.
After a back-and-forth, Lovins allegedly got physical, repeatedly punching United Airlines employees.
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Lovins was arrested upon reaching the airport and charged with battery, per “Good Morning America.” The airline wrote in a statement that the man was banned from all future United Airlines flights.
