06 May 2023 , 14:27
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Passengers on a flight voted a woman off the plane by raising their hands and having her escorted out after she was involved in an altercation with other travellers.
While on a Frontier Airlines plane at Trenton-Mercer Airport in New Jersey, bound for Atlanta, on Monday, May 1, two women began confronting each other.
In videos from the scene that subsequently circulated on social media, the ground crew is seen escorting one of the women and a man, who was apparently her partner, off the plane.
Then, a fellow traveller is shown calling for the other passengers to vote on whether the second woman involved in the argument should also be removed from the flight.
The woman was ultimately escorted out after other passengers 'voted her off' (TikTok)
She had previously been involved in an altercation with another passenger (TikTok)"If you can hear me, raise your hand if you want her removed from the flight," he says.
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A number of nearby passengers are seen in TikTok videos raising their hands in agreement, and the second woman was also escorted off the plane.
A TikTok user with the handle @lanaisli later explained that the couple had argued with a flight attendant over a seat, resulting in the man being removed from the flight.
The videos of the incident posted on TikTok have collectively garnered over 16 million views.
They can be viewed here but be warned, they contain some offensive language:
Frontier Airlines has been contacted for comment.
It comes as multiple incidents of unruly passengers and altercations during flights have emerged.
In 2022, there were 2,455 reports of unruly passengers to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Out of these reports, 831 investigations were initiated where authorities looked into the incidents to determine if any further action was needed.
An altercation involving more passengers preceded the 'vote' (TikTok)
Passengers raised their hands voting to have this woman escorted out of the plane (TikTok)Enforcement actions such as fines, bans, or other penalties against unruly passengers were initiated for 567 of those cases, and the fines levied for these actions amounted to $88.4 million (£70.16 million).
The 2022 data represent a significant decrease in incidents after the 2021 dramatic highs, with nearly 6,000 reports of unruly customers.
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Since the start of 2023, FAA has so far received 586 reports of unruly passengers.