Cellphone video showed the moment a passenger punched a Delta flight attendant on a plane at Miami International Airport.
The video was taken Monday evening on Flight 1997 bound for Atlanta. The video doesn't show how the altercation started, but witnesses say the passenger's boyfriend refused to put on his seatbelt, and in response, the flight attendant asked them to leave the plane.
What the video does show is the passenger, with her mask down to her chin, visibly upset and punching the flight attendant in the face. The passenger then tells her repeatedly, "You shouldn't have touched me," and accused the flight attendant of pushing her.
“(The flight attendant) never pushed the lady,” said Lauryn England, who shot the video obtained by NBC 6. “In the video, when you begin to see her saying, ‘don't touch me, don't touch me,’ and that's when she punched her in the face. And so we were all like, oh my God, I can't believe this is happening on a flight.”
The altercation continued until other passengers intervened. It's unclear what happened after the video was recorded.
“There is nothing more important than the safety of our people and customers. That’s why two customers who did not comply with crew safety instructions were asked to deplane Flight 1997 yesterday evening," said Delta Air Lines spokesperson Morgan Durrant. "We do not tolerate violence of any kind and this situation is currently under investigation. We apologize to customers for the flight delay this caused.”
