After nearly 6,000 reported incidents of verbal and physical abuse of flight crews in U.S. planes by passengers in 2021 - from screaming to taunting to kicking to spitting to punching - you think you've heard it all.
Not even close.
How about this one? A man at Los Angeles International Airport was so irate at being denied boarding on a Delta Air Lines flight that he pitched a fit in the gate area - and then slugged a police officer for good measure, leading to his arrest. This, of course, leads to the half-joking, half-philosophical dilemma of whether this counts as an onboard incident.
In all seriousness, the entertainment website TMZ broke the news of the Thursday, December 30 incident and it was quickly followed up by several media outlets, including Fox5 News in Atlanta, Delta's corporate headquarters.
The man was denied boarding on the flight from LAX to New York City's John F. Kennedy International because his alleged copious amounts of alcohol intake caused airline officials to say he was intoxicated.
When the Los Angeles Police Department intervened, the man assaulted an officer and was immediately arrested at around 1:40 p.m. that afternoon, LAPD Sgt. Rob Pedregon told Fox News.
"They (Delta gate agents) felt he was too intoxicated to fly," Pedregon said.
Police originally intended to just escort the man out of the airport and help him get a ride.
"When they got to the bottom of the escalator for arrivals, the officer handed the suspect his ID back and afterwards the suspect had a moment of rage and he assaulted the officer," Pedregon said.
TMZ reported that the man said, "I'm not going to comply until you tell me why. It's people like you. You ruined my (expletive) night, dude."
The officer was punched in the chest; the man was taken down and arrested.
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