Flight Attendants Assaulted By Haitian Passenger Who Swallowed Rosary Beads in Bizarre ‘Satanic’ Attack
- In a nutshell: Flight attendants rushed to the aid of a passenger on a Miami-bound flight who they thought was suffering a epileptic seizure only for the passenger to kick a crew member in the chest and start damaging a seat in front. The man's sister said the pair were trying to "flee religious attacks of a spiritual nature."
Flight attendants rushed to help a passenger who they thought was suffering an epileptic seizure on an American Airlines flight from Savannah to Miami on Monday evening, only for the passenger to then attack them and swallow his rosary beads as he tried to fight off ‘satanic’ forces.
The bizarre outburst occurred on American Airlines flight AA4162 on March 10, which was operated by Envoy Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Fort Worth-based carrier that flies regional services branded as American Eagle.
Delange Augustin, 31, who is originally from Haiti, was traveling with his sister in an attempt to get back to his homeland, but he now faces charges of interfering with flight crew – a crime that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, as well as a $250,000 fine.
There were just eight passengers on Flight 4162, including Delange and his sister, who were trying to flee “religious attacks of a spiritual nature,” although the flight crew didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary as they boarded the plane.
Just one minute after takeoff, however, Delange started to stomp, shake, and yell in his seat. One of the flight attendants initially thought Delange was suffering an epileptic seizure and rushed to his aid, but as the crew member approached, Delange raised up his legs and kicked them in the chest, sending the flight attendant across the row of seats.
It soon became apparent that Delange’s behavior, while difficult to describe, was “purposeful,” causing the flight attendants to fear for their safety.
From inside the locked cockpit, the pilots heard the commotion in the cabin and contacted the flight attendants before arranging to divert back to Savannah. As they did so, Delange went into meltdown, punching and kicking the seat in front of him, as well as another passenger.
Delange calmed down when he learned that the plane was diverting, but once on the ground, he stood up while clutching his sister and “stormed” the front of the plane, where he cornered a flight attendant in the galley and started throwing ‘haymakers.’
Three good samaritan passengers quickly intervened and pulled Delange to the ground before airport police boarded the plane and took him into custody. He then had to be rushed to a local hospital after it was discovered he had swallowed rosary beads.
His sister told FBI investigators that Delange swallowed the rosary beads “because they are a weapon of strength in the spiritual warfare” and that she was not surprised that her brother had hurt someone because “he hurts evil.”
Delange’s sister also claimed that Satanic forces of evil had tried to prevent them from escaping the United States for Haiti.
The incident came just days after an illegal immigrant on another American Airlines regional flight to Washington National Airport allegedly assaulted a flight attendant and a passenger and then demanded to speak with President Trump.
Asterius Rulamka has been charged with assault on an aircraft following his outburst aboard American Airlines flight AA5574 on March 5, which was operated by PSA Airlines, a wholly owned regional subsidiary of American Airlines.
The incident occurred on the same flight from Wichita to Washington Reagan National Airport that crashed into the Potomac Rover on January 29 after a military Blackhawk helicopter collided with the regional jet as it was coming into the land.
The flight has, however, been assigned a new number.
