A video of a man spitting in the face and then slapping a flight attendant has gone viral after the altercation onboard a Brussels Airlines flight in the past few days. The reason for the dispute? His mother-in-law, who was sat in a middle seat, was apparently being elbowed by two men sat either side of her.
The passenger allegedly started to shout and swear at the passengers around him leading to one flight attendant attempting, unsuccessfully, to diffuse the situation. When that didn’t work, the flight attendant put his hand and on the man’s shoulder which only ratcheted up the tension further.
“You don’t put your hands on me,” he screamed at the flight attendant who repeatedly told him to calm down. His supervisor then comes over and reprimands the passenger but is told to “shut the f**k up”.
Things then escalate dramatically when he spits in the supervisor’s face who responds by slapping him across the face. At this point, the man returns a blow to her face with such force that it knocks the flight attendant sideways.
Other crew members and passengers then step in to restrain the man, while his family continue shouting in his defence.
The video appears to have been shot as many American’s were attempting to flee Europe before a travel ban was enforced by the Trump Administration in an attempt to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 Coronavirus.
The Coronavirus pandemic has had such a massive effect on commercial aviation that Brussels Airlines today said it would suspend all operations because of the “extraordinary circumstances”.
Flight operations may resume on April 20. The Belgian carrier, which is part of the Lufthansa Group, said it would continue to keep a “minimal capacity” on standby should there be a need for repatriation flights of Belgian’s stranded abroad.
