An airline passenger has been filmed being put in a headlock and later exiting a flight after an argument with a fellow flier about the Cincinnati BengalsNFL team.
The plane was about to fly from Cleveland to Phoenix on Wednesday night when two passengers got into an argument about the Bengals, who are playing the LA Rams in the Super Bowl on Sunday.
The altercation got heated when a Frontier airline staffer told one of the passengers that he had had too much to drink, prompting him to become angrier, WJW reported.
Another passenger then placed the agitated Bengals fan in a chokehold, before letting him go. When the visibly frustrated passenger moves towards the door of the plane, the video shows him saying that “I was a Bengals fan, I was the only Bengals fan. I’m not a bad person, bro, I drank a little too much, and one guy back there had a problem that I was drinking too much”.
Passenger Jason Brake recorded the incident, telling WJW that the unruly passenger claimed to be discriminated against because he had had too much to drink.
Mr Brake criticised the passenger for pouncing on the airline employee, but also noted that the other passenger who placed the man in a chokehold appeared to make the situation worse.
“When I watched that, I was like, ‘okay, this guy is assaulting somebody that they’re trying to remove from the plane,’” Mr Brake told WJW.
“The guy is not qualified to handle that situation and it could have made it worse, and you’ve got all these people that are stuck there and there’s going to be a stampede to try to get out of a little small door,” Mr Brake added.
“The captain and the crew did make the comment that ‘this is why you do not buy your own alcohol and you drink it on board because this will happen,’ and they said basically, ‘we hope that he won’t be on any future flights with us,’” he said.
“People have to make the wise decision. I mean, alcohol and flying just really don’t mix,” Mr Brake added.
Cleveland Police are reviewing the video of the altercation and charges are pending against the passenger, according to WJW.
“As Flight 2415 scheduled from Cleveland to Phoenix on February 9 was at the gate prior to takeoff, a passenger was behaving disruptively and was asked to exit the aircraft by a gate agent,” Frontier Airlines told WJW in a statement. “The passenger became increasingly aggressive, physically assaulting the gate agent. The passenger was subsequently arrested by local enforcement and has been permanently placed on our Prevent Departure list.”
