It’s 2016, but some Americans still see flight attendants as sex objects, not paid professionals in need of respect.
An American Airlines pilot, whose name has not been released, made headlines recently after he took down 25-year-old passenger, Michael Kerr. Kerr had been slurring his words, appeared to be intoxicated, and had just thrown a female flight attendant to the ground.
“Enough! You don’t put your hands on my flight attendant!” the pilot says in the video.
The incident took place on July 21st, as the plane was making its way from Lexington, Kentucky, to Charlotte, North Carolina, although the video only went viral in the last 48 hours.
23-year-old Brian Colón, who is an attendant for Norwegian Airlines, was on the plane at the time and filmed the incident. Colón explained to The News and Observer he had never seen anything like this before:
“I was scared. I was very scared. 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,” Colón told The News and Observer.
After landing the plane, the pilot came out to speak with Kerr. When Kerr shoved the attendant and then threatened to break the pilot’s jaw, the pilot held him down for close to 20 minutes until police could arrive.
Kerr has since been charged with assault, interfering with the duties of the flight crew, and public intoxication. He has been released on $25,000 bail and is waiting to stand trial. The flight attendant is currently receiving physical therapy for injuries incurred by the assault.
