by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 9:15 AM ET, Thu October 31, 2024
A United Airlines flight safely landed in Virginia’s Dulles International Airport on October 28 after a passenger was reported assaulting another passenger as he slept in his seat, prompting an investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The FAA states that United Airlines Flight 2247, which took off from San Francisco International Airport, landed safely at 1:40 p.m. following the disturbance. The flight was operated by a Boeing 737-900 aircraft.
According to ABC News, it was a “seemingly random assault,” as a man named Everett Chad Nelson, seated in 35F, used the lavatory two hours into the flight and, while on his way back to his seat, began punching a man asleep in seat 12F. Witnesses report a bloody, vicious attack.
Nelson was restrained by other passengers, who moved him to the front of the plane and monitored him until he was arrested in Virginia. He went to court for the first time on Tuesday and was detained by the judge temporarily.
Local San Francisco ABC News affiliate ABC 7 News shared that the victim was deaf and non-verbal, communicating following the attack via text messages. The victim did not know the assailant. A doctor onboard treated him for the wounds he sustained.
United Airlines shared this statement on the incident: "Thanks to the quick action of our crew and customers, one passenger was restrained after becoming physically aggressive toward another customer on a flight from San Francisco to Washington Dulles on Monday. The flight landed safely and was met by paramedics and local law enforcement."
While the rate of passenger incidents is dramatically lower than in past recent years, the FAA has reported 1,200 unruly passenger incidents, which can range from non-violent disruptions or arguments to these types of violent assaults.
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