An Alaska Airlines flight attendant was forced to unleash an onslaught of punches on a man during his attack on another passenger.
A disturbing video posted to social media showed a male flight attendant repeatedly striking a man who had grabbed the hair of the woman seated in front of him and refused to let go.
The disturbing 30-second clip was shared by user @walterizzle on X, who explained the scary incident on Flight 221, from Oakland, Calif., to Portland, Ore., on Feb. 1, in a series of posts.
“We were about to take off from OAK to PDX, but this dude started saying weird stuff and rocking back and forth,” the X user detailed.
“A flight attendant was called, then he grabbed the woman’s hair in front of him and wouldn’t let go, so the flight attendant started punching him in the throat.”
Someone can be heard shouting, “Let go of her hair!” as the flight attendant can be seen trying to pry open the man’s grip on the woman.
The punches eventually worked, and the frightened woman stood up and moved away while the flight attendant remained with his hands on the passenger, who began to howl.
The Alaska flight attendant called for “another capable male” to help him keep the passenger from potentially doing more damage or harming anyone else or himself.
“He was restrained for several minutes before being arrested,” the X user added.
“The flight was cancelled after an attendant refused to fly and could not be replaced.”
The witness noted that another passenger said the unruly passenger “was an alcoholic on five medications before he started repeating himself and glitching out.”
While some commenters called the flight attendant a hero, others chimed in that he could be charged with assault.
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Alaska Airlines said in a statement that the male passenger “appeared to be experiencing a violent medical episode that involved an ongoing physical assault against other passengers and our crew.”
The airline praised the flight attendant for his quick response “to this chaotic situation” and keeping “all guests safe until law enforcement could intervene.”