A viral confrontation on an American Airlines flight showed how quickly rudeness can lead to removal. The passenger told a flight attendant to “shut up” during pre-flight safety instructions and was swiftly escorted off the plane.
Featured VideoThe early morning flight originated in San José, Costa Rica, and was bound for Dallas, TX on Tuesday. The situation escalated almost immediately after the insult, as shown on the viral video posted on Instagram by Jay Crenshaw (@JayCrenshaw).
He wrote in the video’s caption, “PSA – Listen and be kind to your flight attendants, or else 😬”
AdvertisementPassenger tells flight attendant to “shut up”
According to Crenshaw, the passenger who filmed the encounter, the woman was “having a bad morning” and talking to someone on the phone about it as she boarded.
Crenshaw told the Daily Dot, “When she first arrived to her seat, she noticed it was dirty, and so did I. She asked the same flight attendant to clean it and the attendant did. She continued her phone convo as the safety briefing came on.” He added that she was asked to put her phone away, and that is when he started recording.
The woman muttered to the flight attendant that she “should shut up” while the safety protocols were read over the intercom. Soon after, the flight attendant confronted her, saying, “Do you want to get off the plane? Because I don’t feel comfortable with you if you’re not going to follow instructions.”
AdvertisementThe traveler feigned confusion, repeatedly saying, “I can’t hear,” but the crew member did not accept that excuse. The attendant responded, “You’re not on my list as someone who can’t hear. So I’m going to ask the pilot to remove you because you’re not complying.” She added, “You know what you did, right?” and pointed out that the woman had not turned off her phone when directed to. Although the passenger briefly agreed to comply, the clip resumed with her complaining of harassment.
Ultimately, she was escorted from the plane, leaving her seatmate with an unexpected perk of an empty middle seat.
AdvertisementOne person wrote on the Instagram video, “I actually know that flight attendant… she’s a sweetheart ❤️she handled that situation well.”
Fellow passenger shares perspective
Crenshaw shared with the Daily Dot that he felt sympathy for both sides. “I think the passenger knows she was wrong. I’m definitely not excusing her behavior. we’ve all had bad days and have said bad things because of it but we weren’t on film.”
He added, “I hope people can remember this and give her a bit of grace. At the same time, I also hope she can learn from this and improve.”
AdvertisementAmerican Airlines did not respond immediately to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via email.
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s newsletter here.
Screw the money — Anthropic’s $1.5B copyright settlement sucks for writers