Putting your hands on the flight crew is a surefire way to earn the wrath of the pilot. One man learned that the hard way on a recent American Airlines flight.
Video captured by Lexington, Kentucky, native Brian Colon aboard the July 21 flight to Charlotte shows passenger Michael Kerr - who allegedly consumed three drinks of Jack Daniel's on the flight - pushing on a flight attendant and making threats before being tackled to the ground by the pilot.
"I was scared. I was very scared," Colon told the Charlotte Observer. "I felt like the flight attendant's life was in danger, and I felt like someone else needed to step in, the way he treated her."
Colon said the plane had landed in Charlotte and was taxiing when Kerr became impatient and started yelling "let's go." After being asked to sit down by the flight attendant, the situation escalated when Kerr refused and made his way to the galley.
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That's when Kerr got the attention of the pilot, who exited the cockpit and asked him to take a seat. When Kerr refused and pushed the flight attendant, the pilot stepped in and grabbed him.
As he's taking Kerr to the ground, the pilot can be heard saying "you don't put your hands on my flight attendant."
Colon said the police arrived 15 or 20 minutes later
"They had to hold him, solid, for like 15 minutes," Colon told the Observer. "They kept apologizing the whole time to the passengers. And the guy kept fighting back."
Kerr, who was arraigned in federal court Monday and released on bond, is charged with being "intoxicated and disruptive" in addition to "assault on a female, communicating threats and interfering with a flight crew or attendant," per the Observer.
The 25-year-old is now banned from flying on commercial airlines.
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