03 May 2023 , 15:38
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A passenger on a plane allegedly assaulted a flight attendant and tried to jump out of the emergency exit.
The United Airlines flight was travelling from San Francisco International Airport to Houston International Airport when the incident, which was captured in dramatic video footage, took place.
The passenger was later identified as Cody Benjamin Lovins, 47, from Texas, reported Fox Business.
Naya Jimenez, who was onboard the 11.59pm flight, captured the footage returning home from her holiday in California.
She claims Mr Lovins' wife was sitting in her seat and she asked her to move, but she refused.
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Naya told KTRK: "I'm not really a confrontational person, so I sat at a seat that I found nearby and just kind of waited things out because I didn't want to block anybody else from sitting in their seat."
'Hhe ran toward where the pilot was, where the emergency exit doors are, and attempted to open it,' Naya claimed (Naya Jimenez / BON VOYAGED /TMX)
Mr Lovins told a flight attendant they had missed an earlier flight, witness Naya said (Naya Jimenez / BON VOYAGED /TMX)A flight attendant then came over and had to spend 30 minutes attempting to calm the woman down to try and make her sit in her designated seat.
Naya said Mr Lovins' speech sounded "slurred" at the point he said he and his wife had had their seats upgraded
She explained: "Although you can tell at that point his speech was a little bit slurred, he explained that they had a flight delayed and eventually missed their flight and between the waiting time from their previous flight to the flight that we were on, he upgraded both of their seats."
'Our team at San Francisco International Airport immediately contacted law enforcement,' United Airlines said (NurPhoto via Getty Images)Mr Lovins then became angry as a gate employee came to explain that he did not fully understand how the tickets had been upgraded properly.
Naya added: "He asked at that time, 'Why are you smiling at me,' to the gate attendant that was there. And that's when we realized, this was probably not going to be good."
Mr Lovins then allegedly became so angry he repeatedly punched the United Airlines employees.
Passengers were seen trying to help the airline staff (Naya Jimenez / BON VOYAGED /TMX)In the video, passengers were seen helping the airline employees during the incident.
"After he paused for a minute, he ran toward where the pilot was, where the emergency exit doors are, and attempted to open it," Naya continued. "He successfully opened the emergency exit and was about to jump down...
"The flight attendants just kicked in, and everybody pulled him back to safety."
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United Airlines said in a statement: "On Sunday night, our team at San Francisco International Airport immediately contacted law enforcement after a disruptive customer assaulted one of our customer service employees during boarding.
"This customer's behaviour was unacceptable, he has been banned from future United flights, and we are working with local law enforcement in their investigation.
"We’re grateful to our team for their professionalism and for looking out for the safety of our customers and their fellow United employees."