Passenger attacks crew on NC-to-Florida flight
..CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A passenger aboard a US Airways flight from Charlotte, N.C., to Fort Myers, Fla., was arrested after attacking crew members before being wrestled to the floor.
The incident happened Tuesday afternoon, just hours after passengers aboard a JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas wrestled down the plane's agitated pilot.
Lee County Port Authority police spokeswoman Victoria Moreland said a passenger was arrested but declined to give details until an arrest report was released later Wednesday.
US Airways spokesman Bill McGlashen said Wednesday he didn't know how early in the flight the passenger became unruly, why she reacted, how she was restrained, or whether any flight attendants were injured.
"All I know is that during the flight the passenger became disruptive to the point where the crew took the precautionary measure of restraining her in the cabin," McGlashen said. The flight arrived slightly early into Fort Myers, he said.
The female passenger aboard US Airways flight 1697 kicked, scratched and spit on crew members, according to Raleigh station WCNC (
http://bit.ly/HbS2XI), which said one of its reporters spoke to arriving crew members in the terminal.
The woman complained of being scared of flying shortly before she became violent, flight attendants said. The woman left her seat and knocked one flight attendant to the ground, the TV station reported. One female flight attendant had bruises and bandages up her arms in addition to scratch marks.
A Lee County sheriff's deputy on board the flight helped tackle the woman, WCNC reported. The woman was screaming and crying while she was checked by medics in the terminal before being taken away.
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