David Dao was dragged off a United plane by airport police officers, not flight attendants as stated in an earlier version. This article was amended on 18 August 2021. In instances of disorderly behavior, United said, employees should resort to standard de-escalation measures, including using “the huddle process … which involves discussing the situation with the captain, customer service representative and ground security coordinator for evaluation and solutions”.Īttendants were also directed to use the safety manual to guide decision-making if they feel a customer should be denied onboard service.Įmployees were also reminded that “in the event are unable to reach an agreement with a customer about one of our safety-related policies, should follow regular de-escalation and training process and always use best judgment”. The United memo also said “the overwhelming majority of our customers have been on their best behavior … and returned to our flights with confidence and enthusiasm”. He sued and the case was settled for an undisclosed sum. David Dao, then 69 and a father of five, lost teeth and suffered a broken nose and concussion. Tape was not used in 2017 when airport police officers dragged a doctor off a United flight in Chicago after he refused to give up his seat to employees of a partner airline. In 2003, the airline duct-taped a disruptive passenger on a flight from Honolulu to Los Angeles, after he “began talking and wandering the aisle … pacing and reading the Bible”.Ī few years later in 2008, the airline used duct tape on a passenger after she became violent on a Chicago-bound Puerto Rico flight, fighting attendants and grabbing other passengers. United attendants have duct-taped passengers before. Shortly after that incident, duct tape was used on Frontier Airlines, when attendants restrained a man in his seat after he acted aggressively and allegedly grabbed an attendant’s breasts. The United memo came soon after American Airlines flight attendants restrained a woman with tape after she tried to open the plane’s doors during a flight. The spokesman told us that these types of incidents happen "once in a while, but not that often.As pandemic restrictions lift, flight attendants across the US have been grappling with an unprecedented rise in unruly passenger behavior. The spokesman told us local authorities did not feel it warranted charges, and the Post adds passengers wouldn’t come forward to detail his threatening behavior.Īrthorsson, who works in Trinidad and Tobago as a civil engineer, had been on his way to Jamaica to meet up with his fiance. Maxwell Berry, 22, was duct taped to his chair after being accused of walking around shirtless for 15 minutes, groping several womens chests and punching a crew member. Upon arrival at JFK the flight was met by authorities who arrested the male.Ī Port Authority spokesman confirmed that Arthorsson was met by police after the plane landed, and transported to Jamaica Hospital where he was treated for alcohol poisoning. To ensure the safety of those on board, he was restrained by passengers and crew and was monitored for his own safety for the duration of the flight. His behavior was considered to be unruly and threatening. A spokesman for Icelandair, Michael Raucheisen, confirmed the details of the incident to the Times: Two passengers and an off-duty captain then allegedly pinned him to his seat while Icelandair’s flight crew wrapped him in duct tape and plastic ties (they also gagged him for good measure). ![]() ![]() “Just think of a typical drunk, when he starts taking fighting poses,” a police source told the Post, adding that Arthorsson appeared to be “completely out of his mind.” He tried to “choke the woman next to him” and was “screaming the plane was going to crash,” other passengers said. Then about two hours before the flight landed, police say Arthorsson “became intoxicated, verbally abusive toward the flight crew as well as other passengers.” That's when things got very messy: “He tried to grope and strangle fellow passengers and they said absolutely not,” Ellwood said. Another source said a flight attendant confiscated two liquor bottles after that, but Arthorsson “went into the seat pocket in front of him and began consuming a variety of mini bottles" (including Grand Marnier, whiskey and schnapps). Ellwood's friend, who was on the flight, was the one who snapped the picture. “He drank an entire bottle of hard liquor two to three hours into the flight,” Manhattan resident Andy Ellwood, who posted the photo to his Tumblr, told the Post. And some more details about his drunken antics leading up to the photo have been revealed. Passenger Gudmundur Karl Arthorsson, 46, may not have been arrested, but he did make it to the front cover of the NY Post. Yesterday, a photo of an unruly Icelandair passenger who had to be restrained with duct tape and plastic ties on a flight from Reykjavik to JFK on Thursday spread across the internet faster than a dog driving a power wheel car by himself.
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