An American Airlines (AAL) -) manager suffered permanent scarring to her face when she was reportedly attacked by a passenger who was being escorted off a plane, officials said.
The passenger, identified in news reports as Bruno Luke Machiavelo, 29, from Darien, Conn. was charged with aggravated battery, battery, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
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The Miami-Dade Police Department said the incident occurred at Miami International Airport on a flight bound for New York City.
Machiavelo told the flight attendant he suffered from panic attacks and needed the medication. The flight attendant told him she would not be able to retrieve the medication.
Police said Machiavelo told the employee he “took planes down with his panic attacks in the past.”
A short time later the flight crew decided to have the passenger removed from the aircraft.
When the American Airlines manager approached Machiavelo, he began to scream and push the employee away from him.
As he was exiting the aircraft, Machiavelo allegedly punched the manager multiple times in the face.
Officials: suspect 'kicking and screaming'
He then threw the airline manager on the floor, causing her to hit her head on the jet bridge, giving her "permanent" scarring to her face and head, police said.
The manager had "serious" injuries and was hospitalized, the police report says.
Machiavelo then ran off and pushed an American Airlines gate agent so hard that she fell on the ground and hurt her hands.
Authorities said he "screaming and kicking" as other passengers were holding him down for police. He was handcuffed and taken to a local hospital.
The American Airlines manager was also taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
American Airlines said in a statement that law enforcement was called to the airport "due to a disturbance on the jet bridge where a customer physically assaulted a team member."
"Acts of violence against our colleagues are not tolerated by American Airlines and we are committed to working closely with law enforcement in their investigation," the airline said. "Our thoughts are with our team member, and we are ensuring they have the support they need at this time."
The Federal Aviation Administration said on its website that "incidents where airline passengers have disrupted flights with threatening or violent behavior are an ongoing problem and airlines have seen rapid growth in occurrences since 2021."
While the rate of unruly passenger incidents steadily dropped by over 80% since record highs in early 2021, the FAA said “recent increases show there remains more work to do.”
So far this year, the FAA has recorded 1,900 reports of unruly passengers. This is below the 2021 spike of 5,793 reports, where mask mandates were a major source of contention, but still significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Flight attendants 'enduring abuse'
The FAA recorded 1,161 unruly passenger incidents in 2019, 889 in 2018, and 544 in 2017.
Since late 2021, the FAA has adopted a no-tolerance policy and referred more than 270 of the most severe cases to the FBI under a partnership to ensure unruly airline passengers face criminal prosecution.
Thom McDaniel, Vice President of Transport Workers Union International and a flight attendant with Southwest Airlines (LUV) -) said in an interview with Forbes in October that “pre-pandemic, we would have assaults happening on airline workers at about 300 a year, and those increased by about 3,000% in 2020, and they’re continuing to go on.”
In August, the Transport Workers Union gathered at Newark Liberty International Airport this summer to raise awareness about the "Assault Won’t Fly" campaign that targets the increasing incidents of unruly passengers assaulting airline staff.
Union flight attendants were handing out red cards to travelers entering Terminal A, asking them to support the campaign legislation that would ban passengers who have been convicted of assaulting flight crews or security officers, NJ.com reported.
Tiffany Humes, a JetBlue flight attendant at Newark Airport told the website that she has had to serve as a referee between passengers, break up fights and endure abuse for conditions beyond her control.
“We had an incident where the plane had to sit out on the tarmac and was delayed for two hours, and the crew felt so unsafe they used a cart to get behind just because customers were getting so upset and agitated with them,” Humes said. “They take it out on crew members.”
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