Man unleashes flurry of punches on passenger on Southwest flight in Dallas, video shows
Chaos erupted on a Southwest flight in Dallas after a passenger repeatedly punched a man in an attack captured in a viral video, officials confirmed Wednesday.
In the latest reported incident of unruly passenger behavior, Phoenix-bound travelers were boarding Flight 117 at Love Field Airport when a man sporting a blazer stood over another man and started pummeling him, video footage showed.
“The next thing you know he starts punching the man,” another passenger Caitlin Johnson told CNN Wednesday.
Other passengers eventually jumped in to help de-escalate the situation, Johnson told the outlet.
Johnson, who recorded the Monday melee said that minutes earlier in the gate area, the man who was punched reportedly accidentally bumped into the the wife of his eventual attacker.
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Video shows man punching fellow passenger
In the video, the man in the blazer is seen holding the other passenger in a headlock, yelling obscenities as passengers try to intervene.
“Guys stop it,” one passenger says. “Get off of him” and “let go," another person yells.
Once the passengers managed to separate the two men, the man wearing the blazer swings at the other man, the video shows.
After the altercation, video shows the man in the blazer telling passengers that the person he attacked approached his family aggressively.
“Tell them what you did,” the man in the blazer says in the video. “I will sit down in jail for you approaching my family.”
Both men eventually left the plane before takeoff, she said.
Airline: Flight departed on time
Southwest airline officials told USA TODAY Wednesday the flight arrived on-time and as scheduled.
"We commend our crew for managing the situation as safety professionals while also ensuring the comfort of the other passengers in the cabin," airline officials said.
They did not elaborate on the incident or say whether any arrest was made in connection to the attack.
The attack happened one day after a man aboard a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston allegedly tried to open a plane’s emergency exit door and then tried to stab a flight attendant.
Francisco Severo Torres, 33, was charged with one count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and using a dangerous weapon, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts said Monday.
Natalie Neysa Alund covers trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fight on Southwest flight at Dallas Love Field Airport, video shows
