An Alaska Airlines flight attendant has been caught on camera repeatedly striking a passenger in the neck in a desperate attempt to stop the man from grabbing hold of a woman’s hair who was sitting a row ahead of the suspect.
The now-viral video captures the moment the flight attendant intervened to help the victim as Alaska Airlines flight AS2221 from Oakland, California, to Portland was preparing for departure last Saturday.
According to eyewitness reports, the suspect started to act erratically as the plane was taxiing for takeoff at around 10:40 am on February 1 and suddenly began to hit his head against the seat in front of him.
The female victim claims that the man banged his head with such force against the seat that he briefly lost consciousness before waking up and then grabbing her hair without warning or cause.
Afraid that the man might attempt to pull her hair out, the victim remained as still as possible as the flight attendant rushed to her aid as other passengers and crew members repeatedly called on the suspect to release his grip.
Despite the flight attendant’s use of force looking dramatic, it appears that he was employing a common pressure point technique used in law enforcement that targets the brachial plexus nerve, which is located on the side of the neck.
Police officers are commonly taught to target this nerve by using the side of their forearm or hand in a striking motion to distract a suspect. This particular technique is especially useful when the suspect has hold of another person, and their grip needs to be released.
Of course, any physical restraint or compliance method is not without risk, and it is unclear whether the flight attendant employed by Alaska’s Horizon Air subsidiary received this sort of ‘use of force’ training either in flight attendant training or in another professional capacity.
In the incident aboard Alaska Flight 2221, the suspect was restrained as the plane returned to the gate, and he was swiftly taken into police custody.
The flight was subsequently canceled due to a crew shortage as, understandably, the flight attendant involved in the incident didn’t feel comfortable carrying on with the flight.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Alaska Airlines said: “On Feb. 1, Alaska Airlines Flight 2221, operated by Horizon Air, from Oakland to Portland returned to the gate before departure due to an incident involving a passenger.”
“He appeared to be experiencing a violent medical episode that involved an ongoing physical assault against other passengers and our crew.”
The statement continued: “Our flight attendants’ highest responsibility is the safety of guests and crew on board. Our crew responded to this chaotic situation quickly and kept all guests safe until law enforcement could intervene. At this time, the guest in question has been banned from Alaska and Horizon due to the nature of the physical assault.”
Good on him.
Flight attendant is NOT punching him in the throat. Sheesh. He’s beating on the man’s arm to get him to release the woman’s hair
The importance of well-trained flight attendants in situations where passenger safety is at risk cannot be overstated. Their ability to act without hesitation, prioritizing customer safety over their own, is crucial in ensuring a swift and effective response to emergencies.
Too bad the flight attendant didn’t take a full wine bottle and whack this nutcase over the head a couple of times. Many…many years ago, a 727 captain was a friend of mine. An intruder broke into the cockpit and demanded to be flown to Cuba. The second officer had just stood up to use the restroom when this goombah burst into the cockpit. The 6′ 2″ second officer put a karate chop to the guy’s neck and he fell like a wet noodle and was tied up in the forward galley. The captain (my friend) turned the plane around and headed back to Boston. When they arrived, security was waiting. After shutting down, the captain gets up and grabs the hijacker in the “bum’s rush” grip. As the forward door was opened, the JetWay was still in motion. “Here, we’re done with him. You can have the bastard.” and threw him out of the plane’s door. The JetWay wasn’t quite in position and the guy fell to the ground and suffered a broken arm and collar bone. Too bad it didn’t kill him!