Chaos erupted on a recent Frontier Airlines flight over the weekend when a brawl broke out between two male passengers.
The incident was captured on cell phone video by rapper Milli Miami (born Kiera Pierre Louis) during a flight from Philadelphia to Miami on Sunday at around 9:30 p.m. Louis explained to Local 10 News that an argument turned violent after one passenger, a white man, became upset because the Black man in front of him was taking too long to get his bags from the overhead bins.
Words were exchanged before the angry white man viciously attacked the other passenger and allegedly called him the N-word because he was blocking his way out, according to Pierre Louis.
“I couldn’t believe what was going on,” Pierre Louis said. “You can see the white man on top of the black passenger and just beating him between the seats. The flight attendant got involved. The white man’s wife got involved. His son, I believe, and his son’s girlfriend — everyone was just involved.”
Several of the passengers were able to pull the passenger off of the Black man. Pierre Louis noted that even though the white man started the fight, he was allowed to leave the plane, while the Black man was told to stay behind.
“Racism, of course,” Pierre Louis said. “The black passenger had to wait on the plane, when he didn’t even start it, and the police, while we were walking off the plane, walked right past the person, the white man who actually initiated everything. “
Miami-Dade Police has pushed back against accusations of racism, claiming the Black passenger chose to remain on the plane so he could file a police report. He ultimately decided not to press charges and the white passenger was able to leave.
Frontier Airlines issued the following statement about the incident: “Yesterday as a flight from Philadelphia to Miami was deplaning at MIA, a physical altercation broke out among passengers who were towards the back of the aircraft. The flight crew requested law enforcement assistance. All passengers involved were asked to remain on the aircraft however some disregarded the flight crew’s instructions. Ultimately, local law enforcement became involved.”
Violent attacks such as this one have been increasing at terminals and inside airplanes since travel has picked up amid the pandemic.
As reported by the Daily Mail, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced in June that “airlines have reported more than 3,000 incidents involving unruly passengers since January 1, with about 76 percent of the nearly 3,300 reports involving passengers who refused to wear masks on board their flights,” the outlet writes.
The FAA has collected $682,000 in penalties since the beginning of the year, per the report — which includes the following fines imposed so far on unruly passengers:
- $21,500 to a passenger on a December 2020 Frontier Airlines flight from Nashville to Orlando
- $18,500 to a passenger on a February 19 Republic Airlines flight from Indianapolis to Philadelphia
- $17,000 to a passenger on a January 25 Frontier Airlines flight from St. Louis, Missouri to Las Vegas
- $13,000 to a passenger on a January 29 Frontier Airlines flight from San Diego to Las Vegas
- $10,500 to a passenger on a February 27 Allegiant Air flight from Provo, Utah to Mesa, Arizona
- $10,500 to a passenger on a January 23 Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle to Ketchikan
- $10,500 to a passenger on a December 19 Allegiant Air flight from Syracuse, New York to Punta Gorda, Florida
- $10,000 to a passenger on a February 19 Republic Airlines flight from Indianapolis to Philadelphia
- $7,500 to a passenger on a February 25 Southwest Airlines flight from Denver to Los Angeles
A spokesman for the FAA said this year’s penalties are the highest ever.
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