Passenger charged after punching flight attendant
In yet angry meltdown in the skies, a man is facing federal charges for alleging punching a flight attendant.
Colby Hilleary, 24, faces charges of interfering with flight crew aboard an American Airlines flight from Fort Lauderdale to Dallas, which had to divert to Tampa.
There he was hauled off the plane and detained.
According to a criminal complaint Hilleary started acting bizarrely minutes after taking off.
He quickly became agitated stating ‘there are no pilots on the plane’ and ‘the plane is going the wrong way.’
After an attempt to calm him down, a flight attendant was punched and Hilleary was then restrained by other fliers.
"We are grateful to our professional pilots and flight attendants for acting quickly and working together to ensure the safety of everyone onboard the flight during this unfortunate incident," American spokeswoman Kristen Foster said.
Hours later, passengers on a SkyWest Airlines flight from San Francisco to Boise, Idaho were treated to equally strange and disruptive behavior.
A clearly very agitated woman tried to open a cabin door in mid-flight, continually ranting ‘I am God!’
She was then restrained by zip ties and was then led away by police.
"The customer was restrained, and law enforcement officials met the flight at the gate, where all passengers safely deplaned. The unruly customer was held for questioning by law enforcement," SkyWest said in a statement.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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