FAA Announces $81,000 Fine for Unruly Passenger Duct-Taped During Flight

Nick GilbertsonApril 13, 2022

A woman is facing an $81,950 fine after she allegedly “spit at, headbutted, bit and tried to kick” flight crew and other passengers while restrained for her unruly behavior aboard a domestic flight last year, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced Friday. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg spoke about the fine on ABC’s The View Friday.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s FAA said the incident occurred aboard an American Airlines flight heading from Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, to Charlotte, North Carolina, on July 7.

“The FAA alleges the passenger threatened to hurt the flight attendant that offered help to the passenger after she fell into the aisle,” the agency said. “The passenger then pushed the flight attendant aside and tried to open the cabin door.”

When two flight attendants attempted to restrain the unruly passenger, she allegedly unleashed a flurry of punches to one of their heads.

“After the passenger was restrained in flex cuffs, she spit at, headbutted, bit and tried to kick the crew and other passengers,” according to the FAA. “Law enforcement apprehended her in Charlotte.”

The Charlotte Observer reported that the passenger was duct-taped to her seat during the flight.

Video shows woman duct-taped to seat after trying to open airplane door https://t.co/2i5Ef73xYe pic.twitter.com/yPWEYPD3Tw

— New York Post (@nypost) July 12, 2021

A now-deleted TikTok video allegedly “showed the woman with duct tape on her mouth and her upper body taped to the seat with her hands at her sides,” Breitbart News reported several days after the incident.

In the release, the agency announced another passenger is facing a $77,272 fine for her alleged behavior aboard a Delta Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta on July 16, 2021:

The FAA alleges the passenger attempted to hug and kiss the passenger seated next to her; walked to the front of the aircraft to try to exit during flight; refused to return to her seat; and bit another passenger multiple times. The crew had to physically restrain her.

The agency did not disclose the identities of either passenger.

On Friday, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg appeared on ABC News’s The View, and guest co-host LeAnn Rimes asked him about the numerous cancellations and delays plaguing the aviation industry lately.

WATCH:

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Rimes asked:

Just last week there were over 12,000 cancellations and delays alone, and I’m just wondering with all the unruly passengers, with the whole situation, what are you going to do that will ease all of these disruptions that we’re are experiencing while traveling?

Buttigieg failed to detail a plan that would ease cancellations and delays but spoke to the hefty fines that were announced following his appearance on the show:

Look, it’s one thing to be grumpy on a flight. I feel that way sometimes when I get canceled or delayed, but yeah it’s another thing to endanger flight crews and to endanger fellow passengers. We have no tolerance for that. The FAA is actually getting ready to announce record fines on people who have done this. Look, if you’re on an airplane, don’t be a jerk. Don’t endanger your fellow passengers.

…

But the bottom line is, if you do it on an airplane, and you endanger flight crews and fellow passengers, you will be fined by the FAA and you may be referred to criminal prosecution as well, you might lose the privilege of flying on that airline, period.

When asked if the Biden Administration would be extending the federal mask mandate for airplanes, Buttigieg said he did not “have news to make on that just yet.”

On Wednesday, the Biden Administration extended the mandate for two weeks, Breitbart News reported.