Passengers aboard a Chicago-bound American Airlines flight, sitting on a Dallas-Fort Worth runway on Friday, had nerves rattled when a flight attendant reportedly used an intercom to yell things about the airplane’s “technical difficulties” and the flight “crashing.” Needless to say, the flight was sent back to the gate before taking off.
“She was addressing the captain, telling him not to take off, that it would not be her responsibility when the plane crashes and that it was going to crash,” according to the sister of one passenger who spoke with The Dallas Morning News’s Scoop blog. “Then she was tackled by first-class passengers, who threw her against the wall.” It took six people to restrain the attendant, the newspaper said.
Two passengers told The Dallas Observer that the unnamed attendant used the intercom to say that the flight was returning to the gate because of “technical difficulties” and later broadcast this: “Captain, I am not responsible for crashing this plane.”
As of now, according to the Observer, the plane returned to the gate and was installed with a new flight attendant crew and then lifted off to Chicago.
A Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson told The Chicago Tribune that, “Dallas police advised the FAA that there had apparently been an altercation on the aircraft and as a result, the pilot requested to return. Dallas police, the TSA, the FAA, and American Airlines will be involved in an investigation of the incident.”