American Airlines Removes Passenger for Telling Attendant to ‘Shut Up’
Viral video posted to Instagram showed a passenger telling a flight attendant to “shut up” as safety protocols were read over the plane’s public address system on a flight from Costa Rica to Dallas Tuesday. Instagram / @jaycrenshaw
A disruptive passenger was removed from an American Airlines flight earlier this week after telling a flight attendant to “shut up” during the pre-flight safety announcement.
The incident occurred on a flight from Costa Rica to Dallas, Texas, and was captured in a viral video posted to Instagram. In the video, the woman can be heard interrupting the safety briefing, saying the flight attendant “should shut up” as the crew relayed mandatory instructions over the public address system.
In response, the flight attendant approached the passenger and calmly but firmly addressed the situation.
“Do you want to get off the plane? Because I don’t feel comfortable with you if you’re not going to follow instructions,” the attendant said, before instructing colleagues to pause the announcement. When confronted, the passenger claimed, “I can’t hear,” prompting the flight attendant to reply, “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. You know what you did, right?”
The flight attendant also pointed out that the woman had not turned off her phone as required. While the video briefly shows the passenger appearing to cooperate, a later clip resumes with her accusing the airline employee of harassment. Ultimately, she was escorted off the plane.
Jay Crenshaw, the passenger seated next to the woman and who filmed the exchange, posted the video with the caption: “empty middle seat is a win for me.” Crenshaw later told The Post that he sympathized with the flight attendant but also recognized the passenger was having a rough day.
“She was having a bad morning and was obviously disturbed or irritated about something she was on the phone talking about,” he said. “The flight attendant might’ve caught a stray. I think the passenger knows she was wrong.”
Crenshaw added that the woman had reportedly lost her phone and had to borrow one, noting, “I’m definitely not excusing her behavior, [but] we’ve all had bad days and have said things we didn’t mean. The difference is, we weren’t filmed.”
American Airlines has not yet responded to requests for comment.
The incident adds to a growing list of in-flight disruptions in recent weeks. In one case, a 50-year-old woman from New Zealand was removed from a flight after allegedly cursing at staff and dancing in the aisle while intoxicated. In another, a drunk passenger had to be restrained on a flight from the UK to Dubai after hurling abuse at a flight attendant.
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