Passengers on a recent American Airlines flight were left stunned after a man launched into a racist tirade at a flight attendant… and perhaps the most shocking thing about the encounter was that the flight attendant acted like it was just another day at work.
The incident was captured by a passenger sitting in the First Class cabin of an American Airlines Boeing 737 that was still parked at the gate at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.
The unruly passenger had started to act up before departure, so the plan was to reconnect the jetbridge and have him removed from the aircraft, but it later turned out that the bridge had broken, so everyone had to listen to the passenger’s rant for longer than they probably wanted to.
“I saw her, and her uncles and aunts and cousins swimming the godamn Rio Grande,” the passenger announced loudly to the entire cabin.
The man’s racist comment had come after a tense exchange between the passenger and a flight attendant in which he accused her of “buying an illegal social security number.”
“You’re a racist, that’s what you are,” the flight attendant calmly responded.
@anitakarknight Coming to you live from American Airlines ✈️ @American Airlines @The Shade Room ♬ original sound – anitakarknight
The unruly passenger continued his act in front of the visibly bemused passengers before the flight attendants tried to get him to return to his seat… and what’s surprising is that the crew member who had just been abused was able to see the funny side of the whole incident.
The flight, which was due to depart DFW for Las Vegas, eventually returned to the gate, and the man was removed by airport police.
In response to one eyewitness video of the incident, one person commented about the flight’s destination of Las Vegas: “As a former FA [flight attendant]… that makes a LOT of sense Lol.”
Unfortunately, the other passengers not only had to deal with listening to the man’s tirade but also with a lengthy delay to their flight after American Airlines decided to deplane the aircraft while they dealt with the incident.
Along with potential criminal charges, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has the power to fine unruly passengers up to $43,658 per violation of federal rules. When the FAA does take civil enforcement action, the agency often finds several violations that can lead to huge fines.
During a worrying spike in unruly passenger behavior in 2021 and 2022, the FAA launched a zero-tolerance campaign, which led to the agency slapping unruly passengers with more than $20 million in fines.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has called for passengers to help bring back the “golden age of air travel.”
“Bringing civility back, I think, enhances the travel experience for everyone. Sometimes you just have to ask people; hey, let’s maybe go back to an era where we didn’t wear our pyjamas to the airport. We might actually dress up a little bit,” Duffy told Fox News last November.
In 2025, airlines reported 1,621 unruly passenger incidents to the FAA – a massive 72% drop on the nearly 6,000 disruptive passenger reports it received in 2021.
