Woman kicked off plane after argument about exit row safety

Article content

A video shows a woman arguing with flight attendants and later being removed from a plane after she reportedly disagreed with exit row safety rules.

All of the passengers on a Frontier Airlines flight at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport were forced to deplane after the verbal altercation, per The New York Post. The plane was an Airbus A321 aircraft, according to aviation news outlet FL360aero, which is capable of carrying 180 to 220 passengers.

Article content

The end of the argument was filmed by a passenger, who posted the video on TikTok on May 9.

It has garnered more than 80,000 views. The passenger who took the video is a TikTok creator who makes content about travelling, using the handle @travelwithtia23. She wrote that the “irate” woman was told to deplane and then arrested because of her non-compliance and disrespect toward the flight attendant in the caption of her video.

The captain even got involved, making an announcement about the disturbance before police arrived, according to The Independent.

Article content

The beginning of the video shows a flight attendant speaking to a woman in the exit row of the plane. The woman can be heard asking, “What is the problem?” in an angry tone.

The flight attendant makes a gesture with her arms, indicating that the woman is seated at an exit row.

“We ain’t got no problem with that,” she replies. “We understand we got to help people get off the plane.”

The woman — who said she was travelling to pick up her four-year-old grandson from school — can also be heard saying that she agreed and that the flight attendant was wasting her breath. Throughout the five-minute video, airport staff and flight attendants approach the woman.

“I’m not getting off this plane,” she says.

At one point, the woman says she is calling her attorney. Passengers on the flight start pleading with her to deplane before police officers arrive. The video cuts to passengers waiting at a gate as the handcuffed woman is escorted off the plane by police.

In a follow-up video, the TikTok creator explained what occurred before she started filming.

“When she first got on the plane and acknowledged that she was in an exit row, she said, ‘Oh I’m not going to save anybody. If something happens, I’m going to save myself first,’” she said. “That was her attitude.”

Article content

It was unclear if the woman understood that she had to give verbal confirmation to the flight attendant that she could perform necessary duties in the case of an emergency.

The Federal Aviation Administration has strict rules about who can fly in an emergency exit row.

“Technically, if a flight attendant deems you unfit to operate the emergency exit, you are required by law to forfeit your seat in the exit row. The degree to which those restrictions are enforced is entirely up to the flight crew,” according to a post by aviation website The Points Guy.

One of the rules is that the person or people seated in the exit row must be able to understand “all oral, visual, and written commands or instructions” from the crew in case of emergency.

“This is one of the reasons flight attendants are required to receive a verbal yes from passengers seated in the exit row,” according to The Points Guy. “This verbal response allows flights attendants to determine whether or not a passenger can understand what the flight attendant is saying and can articulate a logical response.”

According to the explanation in the follow-up video, the woman was rude to several flight attendants and would not calm down. The situation escalated after she was asked to deplane.

Frontier Airlines has not commented on the incident.

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

Article content