A passenger brutally beat a Southwest Airlines flight attendant, it was reported Wednesday.
Vyvianna Quinonez, 28, was escorted off the Southwest Airlines flight 700 at the San Diego International Airport after allegedly assaulting a flight attendant, according to WAGA-TV.
The video appears to show a passenger jump up from her seat and start punching the flight attendant in the face, while the passengers nearby try to pull the attacker down. The brawl is stopped by a man who forcefully intercedes, shouting, “Sit down, lady … don’t you dare touch her!”
New video shows an altercation between Vyvianna Quinonez and a Southwest Airlines flight attendant. A union representative says the flight attendant lost two teeth when she was struck. Quinonez who was arrested on battery charges claims it was self-defense. pic.twitter.com/aCAHGHxF5b
— CBS News 8 (@CBS8) May 26, 2021
The unruly passenger ignored a number of airline regulations and refused to put her tray table in upright position and wear a seatbelt before landing, Southwest Airlines spokesman Chris Mainz told CNN.
“So, now she’s bleeding everywhere in the back looking at us and this lady who hit went back to her seat wore a mask — nothing happened seems like,” Taro Arai, a passenger on the Sunday flight who took pictures of the incident, told KOVR. “I’m like huh, woah, I mean, she was so strong she could knock me out.”
“This past weekend, one of our Flight Attendants was seriously assaulted, resulting in injuries to the face and a loss of two teeth,” Lyn Montgomery, president of a local Transport Workers Union (TWU), wrote in a Monday letter to Southwest Arlines CEO and Chairman Gary Kelly.
Photos show Southwest Airlines flight attendant pummeled by passenger https://t.co/12l4KWbTSR pic.twitter.com/OQtTY1ApkO
— FOX 2 Detroit (@FOX2News) May 27, 2021
The Sunday incident reportedly highlighted an “epidemic of aggression and assault,” as there have been 477 similar incidents involving unruly passengers on Southwest from April 8 to May 15, according to the letter.
“We ask that you take a strong stance to ensure that unruly passengers are not welcome to travel with us, period, full stop,” the letter reads.
Additionally, Montgomery called for an increase in the number of Federal Air Marshals on board of passenger flights to ensure minimization of such unfortunate occurrences.