In a disturbing event seen on film by another passenger, a flight attendant on a Southwest Airlines aircraft was beaten after making a simple request of a traveller.
When the incident happened, the jet was arriving in San Diego following a flight from Sacramento. While the jet was still taxiing, a woman got up from her seat. The flight attendant motioned for her to sit and fasten her seatbelt. The valid request was received with wrath by the customer, who then punched the flight attendant in the face multiple times.
Another traveler intervened to separate the flight attendant from the woman. A wound on her face was causing the flight attendant to haemorrhage. She also had two front teeth extracted.
“It saddens me that America is so dissatisfied right now. Individuals do not like being told what to do “explained passenger Michelle Manner, who captured the frightening scene on video.
New video shows flight attendant being attackedCaught on camera: Passenger punches flight attendant in the face, knocking out two teeth on Southwest Airlines. https://wgxa.tv/news/nation-world/southwest-bans-woman-accused-of-assaulting-flight-attendant
Posted by WGXA.tv on Monday, 31 May 2021
Vyvianna Quinonez, 28, was removed from the plane and detained on suspicion of violence inflicting severe bodily harm. As part of a plea bargain, she pled guilty to the assault in December 2021. She had breached her parole by being arrested for DUI in January 2022. She is sentenced in May 2022, with a potential punishment of $250,000 and up to 20 years in jail.
Unfortunately, attacks on airline staff have increased dramatically since pandemic restrictions were implemented. The Federal Aviation Administration typically handles 150 incidents of rowdy passengers each year, but at the time of this event in May 2021, it had already encountered 2,500 cases.
