SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - American Airlines landed in hot water Saturday when video of a confrontation on one its flights went viral.
In the video, a mother is in tears after she said one of the flight's attendants took a stroller away from her with her child still in her hands as they were boarding.
The video, posted Friday on Facebook by Surain Adyanthaya, shows the aftermath of the incident as passengers boarded the flight from San Francisco to Dallas.
“OMG! AA Flight attendant violently took a stroller from a lady with her baby on my flight, hitting her and just missing the baby. Then he tried to fight a passenger who stood up for her,” the post by Adyanthaya read.
A passenger stands up early in the video demanding the name of the attendant accused of bringing the mother to tears. Other passengers boarding the flight confirmed the incident in the video.
Once the flight attendant returns on board, the passenger who first stood up tells him, “hey bud, you do that to me and I’ll knock you flat.”
The attendant quickly responds, “hey, you stay out of this.” Both men quickly came face-to-face and continue yelling at one another.
The flight attendant repeatedly tells the passenger to “hit me…come on, try it.”
Flight crew members separated the two men, but the back and forth continued.
“You don’t know what the story is,” the flight attendant told the passenger.
“I don’t care what the story is, you almost hurt a baby,” the passenger replied.
The mother could be heard crying throughout the confrontation.
OMG! AA Flight attendant violently took a stroller from a lady with her baby on my flight, hitting her and just missing the baby. Then he tried to fight a passenger who stood up for her. AA591 from SFO to DFW.
Posted by Surain Adyanthaya on Friday, April 21, 2017
American Airlines issued a statement following news of the video, which has been viewed more than 1.8 million times as of Saturday morning.
“We have seen the video and have already started an investigation to obtain the facts. What we see on this video does not reflect our values or how we care for our customers. We are deeply sorry for the pain we have caused this passenger and her family and to any other customers affected by the incident. We are making sure all of her family's needs are being met while she is in our care. After electing to take another flight, we are taking special care of her and her family and upgrading them to first class for the remainder of their international trip.
The actions of our team member captured here do not appear to reflect patience or empathy, two values necessary for customer care. In short, we are disappointed by these actions. The American team member has been removed from duty while we immediately investigate this incident.”
The incident comes two weeks after a passenger on United Airlines was dragged from his seat off a flight in Chicago.
United was quickly criticized for conflicting statements afterward, initially siding with employees over the passenger.
Mark Saunders is a KGTV digital producer. Follow him on Twitter at @10NewsSaunders.
