'She was scared': Disturbing scene caught on mid-flight TikTok
A woman has been duct taped to a seat on a plane after she reportedly had a "breakdown" and attempted to open the door during a flight.
A video posted to TikTok shows a woman with duct tape slapped over her mouth and restraining her body on an American Airlines flight from Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, to Charlotte in North Carolina, on Tuesday (local time).
A woman who posted the video explained the unruly passenger was seen taped up in first class and attempted to scream at people as they disembarked the plane after landing.
She said about an hour into the journey, chaos broke out as "flight attendants were running up and down the aisles, frantically whispering to each other".
The passenger said the crew then were ensuring bathrooms were locked and grabbed bags from the overhead lockers.
"It was just kind of like chaos and no one knows what's going on," TikTok user @lol.ariee said in the video.
Passengers on the flight were later informed of a "bad situation".
“Then we’re gradually starting to hear more and more screaming, and we’re like, ‘Wait a minute',” the woman said.
Passenger had 'mental breakdown'
A flight attendant later explained a woman had "an outburst" after a mental breakdown and was attempting to get off the plane.
"She was saying, 'I need to get off this plane,' and she went up to the exits and started banging on the doors, saying, 'You need to let me off this plane!'" the TikToker continued.
The woman bound to her chair was reportedly spitting, biting and attacking flight attendants as they attempted to calm her.
“I guess it took all five flight attendants to subdue her and like literally take her down," the woman said in the TikTok video.
Incident 'handled poorly'
An American Airlines spokesperson confirmed the incident in a statement to Yahoo News Australia.
The airline said the passenger "attempted to open the forward boarding door" and was then restrained "for the safety and security of other customers and our crew".
The spokesperson added the passenger "caused injury" to a flight attendant.
"We applaud our crew for their professionalism and quick effort to protect those on board," the spokesperson said.
The woman was taken to a local hospital and the airline placed her on an internal no-fly list while investigations into the incident continue.
The woman who posted the TikTok video said the action taken against the unruly passenger was too drastic.
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"What was happening seemed like it was beyond the woman's control," the TikTok user said.
"She was scared.
"They should have a better way of going about it ... I feel like it was handled poorly."
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