Police arrested a 42-year-old woman after she allegedly assaulted two flight attendants while intoxicated on a Spirit Airlines flight Saturday.
A Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson told Newsweek the agency is investigating the incident, adding:
"The crew of Spirit Airlines Flight 222, an Airbus A320, reported a passenger disturbance and landed at Nashville International Airport at 7:30 p.m. local time Saturday. The flight was coming from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport when the incident occurred."
The woman punched one flight attendant and pulled another's hair, The Tennessean reported. Police have not identified her.
After the attack, a fellow passenger zip-tied her feet to restrain her, according to the newspaper. Police arrested the woman after the flight landed at Nashville International Airport, The Tennessean reported.
She allegedly told police to "shoot me motherf*****" and "I didn't do anything wrong," reported local news website Scoop: Nashville.
She also resisted getting into the police cruiser by stiffening her legs to prevent officers from closing the door, The Tennessean reported.
She faces charges of public intoxication, but the flight crew declined to press further charges, according to The Tennessean. She was admitted into jail at 8:40 p.m. Saturday and released Sunday morning.
Nicole Aguiar, a Spirit Airlines spokesperson, told The Tennessean the airline does "not tolerate aggressive behavior of any kind, and this passenger is no longer welcome on any of our flights."
"Thank you to our guests who assisted our crew and local law enforcement for their assistance," Aguiar said. "We will work with the relevant authorities to ensure this individual is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
Asked by Newsweek, a Transportation Security Administration spokesperson described the behavior as "unacceptable."
Newsweek also reached out to Spirit Airlines and the Nashville International Airport for comment Sunday morning but did not hear back by publication. This story will be updated with any response.
The incident recalls a similar incident earlier this year when flight attendants on a Frontier Airlines plane duct-taped a passenger accused of assault to his seat. The passenger allegedly touched two of the flight attendants' breasts, shouted that his parents are worth $2 million and punched another flight attendant. He faced three counts of assault.
As air travel has picked up in recent months, there has been a flurry of incidents involving unruly passengers—often related to COVID-19 safety protocol and sometimes fueled by alcohol.
Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that it issued more than $161,000 in fines to eight passengers regarding incidents with alcohol—though none of the passengers were identified. In the past year, more than $1.45 million fines have been issued.
As of November 23, more than 5,338 incidents of unruly passengers were reported to the FAA, according to the agency's website. Of those, 3,856 were related to face masks. The agency launched 1,012 investigations into unruly passengers so far in 2021, shattering the previous annual record of 310 in 2004.
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Andrew Stanton is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in Maine. His role is reporting on U.S. politics and social issues. ... Read more
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