South
Crazy airport, plane brawls from recent flights around the US
Crime can happen anywhere, even at 30,000 feet in the air.
Unruly travel goers are not uncommon on flights. In 2023, there were 2,075 unruly passenger reports, 512 investigations initiated, 402 enforcement actions taken and $7.5 million fines levied, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Below are just a few of the brawls that have occurred at U.S. airports and in the sky in the last year.
There were many travel-related altercations that occurred in 2023. (iStock)
- Chicago O’Hare Airport altercation at the baggage claim
- Atlanta Spirit Airlines brawl
- Southwest Airlines commotion during travel
- Frontier Airlines fight in the sky
1. Chicago O’Hare Airport altercation at the baggage claim
In May 2023, a large fight broke out at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Footage was captured of the altercation that occurred near a baggage claim area.
“A verbal dispute while deplaning escalated in the lower level of terminal 3 when a 24-year-old female victim was punched by two offenders,” the Chicago Police Department said in a statement to Fox News Digital in May 2023.
In the video, many punches are thrown, people are tackled, and two women are seen grabbing at each other’s hair.
The two women are the focus of the video for around 20 seconds. Both of the women are on the floor ripping at one another’s hair. Four other women make their way over to them to break up the altercation. Once broken up, one of the women from the floor begins hitting two other women.
Behind the women fighting are at least four men swinging at one another and one woman working to break up the fight near the conveyor belt. Once the woman has removed someone she seemingly knows from the fight, the other three men walk away and begin fighting other patrons. One of the men is seen throwing a woman onto the ground and punching her in the face repeatedly.
The other woman from the floor is seen in the background in a second altercation where video captures her kicking a man.
Chicago O’Hare is where one of the biggest airport brawls of 2023 happened. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
There were two arrests made as a result of the brawl, 18-year-old Christopher Hampton and 20-year-old Tembra Hicks, who both faced one misdemeanor count of battery, Fox News Digital reported.
VIDEO CAPTURES WILD BRAWL AT CHICAGO’S O’HARE AIRPORT, LEADING TO 2 ARRESTS
“Safety and security are always the top priorities of the Chicago Department of Aviation,” the operator of the airport told Fox32 Chicago at the time. “We work closely with all of our federal partners present at O’Hare and Midway International Airports and the Chicago Police Department to ensure that everyone is safe when they are in our facilities.”
2. Atlanta Spirit Airlines brawl
Also in May 2023, a fight broke out at a Spirit Airlines boarding gate at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
During the incident, a woman who claimed to be pregnant allegedly attacked a Spirit Airlines employee, according to police documents.
Que Maria Scott faced disorderly conduct charges as a result of the incident, Fox News Digital reported.
In the police bodycam video of the airport incident, there is a commotion immediately heard as they approach the boarding gate.
Scott is heard yelling “I’m pregnant, I’m pregnant.”
“I didn’t do nothing to nobody,” Scott says after officers place her in cuffs. “You really just got me booked. It’s cool. I’m gonna remember your face in my head forever.”
The victim in this case was an airline manager named Jasmine Rhoden, who told police she decided to step in after the women attempted to fight one of the gate agents.
Many airport and plane fights, including one that happened at a Spirit Airlines boarding gate in 2023, are captured on video and circulate on social media. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
“Ms. Rhoden stated that the Ms. Q. Scott put her boarding pass in one of her pockets, pulled up her sweat pants and proceeded to attack her by swinging her arms and hitting [the victim] on the left side of her face,” the incident report stated. “[She] then stated that Ms. Q. Scott began to pull her hair at the scene and pulling her into a barrier that was at the location causing them to fall to the ground.”
SPIRIT AIRLINES BRAWL IN ATLANTA CAUGHT ON CAMERA; VICTIM ‘CLEARLY SMELLED ALCOHOL’ ON ALLEGED ATTACKER
“Rhoden stated that she clearly smelled alcohol on Ms. Q. Scott, even though Ms. Q. Scott claimed to be pregnant,” the report said.
3. Southwest Airlines commotion during travel
In March 2023, a flight took off from Dallas to Phoenix. The flight quickly went from peaceful to aggressive when a man alleged that another passenger bumped into his wife, Fox News Digital reported.
A video taken by a passenger on the plane documented the incident that occurred between the two men.
The fight happened in the aisle of the plane.
“You a p—-, you a p—-,” one of the men, who was wearing a jacket and a hat, can be heard saying at the start of the video, as he and a heavily tattooed passenger hold tight grips on each other. Other passengers are seen on either side of the two men, trying to pull them apart.
“Get off of him,” a passenger is heard saying.
After what seemed to be passengers got the two men separated, the man wearing the jacket and hat reached back over the seat and threw a punch.
“Do not hit him again,” someone is heard yelling after the punch is thrown.
BRAWL BREAKS OUT ON SOUTHWEST AIRLINES FLIGHT FROM DALLAS TO PHOENIX: ‘THAT’S WHY I BEAT YOUR A–‘
In a second video of the incident, the man wearing the jacket and hat is seen telling everyone what happened and what causes the fight to ensue.
“He approached me aggressively with my family,” the man said. “I will sit down in jail for you approaching my family. I will die for my family.”
“So that’s why I beat your a–,” he continued. “No other reason.”
Fox News Digital reported that the Dallas Police Department said no one was arrested in the incident.
4. Frontier Airlines fight in the sky
In the summer of 2023, two women got into an altercation on a flight headed to Las Vegas from Philadelphia.
“Shut the f— up, b—-,” one woman repeatedly says in the dimly lit video.
A flight leaving headed to Las Vegas was forced to divert last year after an argument between female passengers. (AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
“Don’t f—ing touch me,” one of the women yells multiple times during the situation, seemingly to one of the flight attendants.
The woman who took the video told Fox News Digital in July 2023 that the two women who were arguing were traveling together.
One of the women was sent to a different seat by the male flight attendant, according to the woman who captured the incident, but that did not help deescalate the situation, as the swearing and yelling continued.
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The flight took a detour to Denver International Airport due to arguing between the two passengers, before continuing to their intended destination.
At the end of all the commotion, the video, which focuses on one of the two women in the altercation, shows her being escorted off the plane, yelling profanities as she exits.
Once arriving in Denver, the two female passengers were escorted from the plane by the Denver Police Department, Fox News Digital reported. The video shows passengers clapping as the unruly passengers are removed from the flight.
Dallas, TX
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Miami, FL
Darian Mensah Officially Joins Miami Hurricanes After Agreement With Duke
Darian Mensah has enrolled at Miami, becoming the latest standout transfer quarterback to join the Hurricanes, who are coming off a runner-up finish in their first trip to the College Football Playoff.
Mensah transferred to Miami from ACC rival Duke on Tuesday night. Duke agreed earlier Tuesday to end a legal battle with its now-former quarterback over whether he should be allowed to sign elsewhere.
Duke and Mensah announced they came to that agreement a few hours before Mensah and his top target with the Blue Devils this past season — wide receiver Cooper Barkate — toured the Miami campus in Coral Gables, Florida.
About 12 hours later, Mensah’s deal with Miami was official.
Mensah is joining his third team in as many years. He threw for 2,723 yards and 22 touchdowns for Tulane in 2024, then had 3,973 passing yards and 34 touchdowns — both best in the ACC — for Duke while leading the Blue Devils to a surprise conference title this past season.
And the Hurricanes are hoping he can keep their run of portal-quarterback success going.
Miami nailed the transfer route the last two seasons, first with Cam Ward — who played his way into becoming the No. 1 pick in last year’s NFL draft — leading the Hurricanes to a 10-win season in 2024, then this past season with Carson Beck guiding the team to its first national championship game in nearly a quarter-century.
The Hurricanes return a slew of offensive firepower from the national runner-up team, including star wide receiver Malachi Toney — the nation’s top freshman this past season — along with running backs Mark Fletcher Jr., Marty Brown and Girard Pringle, and tight end Elija Lofton.
Barkate would add even more to that already-loaded mix. He has 185 catches for 2,848 yards and 21 touchdowns in his college career, which includes three years at Harvard — he has an economics degree from there — and then this past season at Duke.
Duke plays at Miami this coming season, visiting on Nov. 14. The Blue Devils are coached by Manny Diaz, who coached Miami from 2019 through 2021. He was replaced in Coral Gables by Miami alum Mario Cristobal, who led the team to a school-record 13 wins this past season and its first instance of back-to-back 10-win seasons since a four-year run of those from 2000 through 2003.
Miami opens the 2026 season at Stanford on Sept. 4.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
Atlanta, GA
Man sentenced to prison for posing as police officer at Atlanta gas station
ATLANTA – A man previously convicted of child molestation, robbery and stalking was sentenced to prison for four years after posing as a police officer with a firearm at an Atlanta gas station last year, state prosecutors said.
What we know:
Frederick Crawford was sentenced to four years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after being convicted of unlawfully possessing a firearm.
An off-duty Atlanta officer saw Crawford, 34, at the gas station on Apr. 12, 2024, while he was buying gas, a release from the US Attorney’s Office states.
The officer reported seeing Crawford armed and wearing a uniform labeled “fugitive task force” arguing with customers and repeatedly threatening to issue tickets to people at the store.
The off-duty sergeant approached Crawford and flagged down two marked police cars to assist. When Crawford saw the officers coming towards him, he fled, ditching the firearm, according to prosecutors.
He was arrested shortly after, and officers found he had been previously convicted for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, child molestation, family violence battery, aggravated stalking, and robbery by force.
The Atlanta Police Department requested that Crawford be prosecuted federally.
What we don’t know:
Prosecutors did not release further information about Crawford’s past convictions or the gas station where the incident occurred.
It is unclear what kind of firearm Crawford possessed during the impersonation.
The Source: Information in this report comes from the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia
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