Latest news with #unrulypassenger
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Daily Mail
Martial arts celebrity Tex Johnson explodes with fury on Southwest jet then moans he's being 'treated like a black person'
Famed martial arts fighter Aaron 'Tex' Johnson was seen in shocking footage flying into a frenzy on a Southwest jet as stunned passengers pleaded for him to get off the plane. Johnson, 33, a professional Brazilian Jui Jitsu fighter, was booted off the flight after screaming at crewmembers and passengers in a furious outburst. It is unclear what triggered the episode, with footage shared by one witness beginning with Johnson being confronted by several people on board all yelling 'off' at him. 'I have to get my bag,' Johnson replied, and after he was handed his luggage, he turned to a man and saying: 'You're a loser.' 'You started this,' he continued. Fellow passengers all cheered 'bye' as Johnson grabbed his bag and walked to the front of the plane, applauding as he began to disembark. But as the fighter made his way to the door, Johnson turned and began screaming in the face of two female flight attendants, repeating: 'Abuse! Abuse!' It is unclear if Southwest Airlines have taken any action over the shocking incident, and Daily Mail has contacted the airline for comment. Welcome to the no fly list — The Black Tucker Carlson Jr 🇺🇸 (@B1TuckerCarlson) July 23, 2025 After Johnson screamed in the flight attendants faces as he was kicked off the plane, it appears that the unruly passenger continued his altercation in the jet bridge. One of the female flight attendants at the door could be seen yelling: 'Don't touch her! Don't touch her!' The altercation on the bridge continued for over a minute as Johnson, out of sight of the camera on board, could be heard howling outside. In his rant, Johnson could be heard saying, 'Call a lawyer' and telling a passenger 'You're a f***ing piece of s***.' In separate footage taken by a witness inside the airport terminal, Johnson was seen restrained to a stretcher and being escorted by police officers. It is not clear why Johnson was on a stretcher, with the witness who filmed his second outburst commenting that he was 'tweaking out.' As he was wheeled in the stretcher, Johnson yelled: 'This is bulls***... bulls***.' 'I am being treated like a black person right now,' he added. Johnson took to social media after footage of the plane outburst went viral, sharing footage of his rant along with dozens of stories of motivational quotes. He also shared an image of himself enjoying an ice cream, seeming to show that he was not taken into custody after the rant. In another Instagram story on Wednesday, he shared an image of his hand tattoo and captioned it: 'That's the motto - Nobody moves nobody gets hurt.' Johnson is an International Brazilian jiu-jitsu Federation (IBJJF) 3x Pan American No-Gi Champion, but owns a mixed record as a professional fighter. He has 84 wins across his career, offset by 67 losses. According to BJJ Heroes, a fighting outlet for Brazilian jiu-jitsu, he is known for his 'aggressive and submission-oriented style', and he has 'submitted some of the sport's biggest stars.' Johnson has faced several controversies in his fighting career, including being kicked out of his training camp in North Carolina in 2018. When asked why he was booted from his training camp by trainer Lucas Lepri, he told BJJ Heroes that he was caught teaching at another gym, and said Lepri also had issues with him being 'too aggressive.' In 2019, he also pulled out of a high-profile fight when he entered rehab. Johnson did not say what he went to rehab for, and said at the time that he pulled out of the Fight 2 Win 108 event to refocus. 'I will be spending time with my wife and getting my mind better for a return to competition. Thank you everyone for all the amazing support,' he wrote on Instagram. In 2021, he also sued fighter Orlando Sanchez after suffering a severe spinal cord injury. According to a press release at the time from his attorneys, they said it was sustained against Sanchez, a fighter with a 'reputation for fighting dirty.' He alleged that Sanchez illegally slammed him into the mat when he placed him in a submission hold, suffering 'permanent' injuries to his spine. The status of the lawsuit is unclear, however Johnson has not had a professional fight since.
New York Times
19-07-2025
- New York Times
Plane Is Diverted After Man Threatens to Kill Flight Attendant, Authorities Say
A jet plane traveling to Detroit from Omaha on Thursday evening was forced to make an emergency landing after a 23-year-old passenger shoved a flight attendant, threatened to kill him and lunged in an apparent effort to open an emergency exit door midflight, according to the authorities and another passenger. The man, Mario Nikprelaj of Elkhorn, Neb., was arrested by the police in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, after the plane touched down at Eastern Iowa Airport, the authorities said. He was charged with several crimes, including assault and disorderly conduct. Jonathan Spencer Van der Waarden, a passenger on Flight 3612, which was operated by SkyWest Airlines, an independent carrier that runs regional jets for Delta Air Lines as Delta Connection, was flying home to Michigan after a work trip. He said in an interview on Friday that Mr. Nikprelaj's behavior had been erratic from the beginning of the flight. He said that Mr. Nikprelaj had unfastened his seatbelt and stood up during takeoff. Then, during drink service, Mr. Nikprelaj, who was seated in the exit row, prompted panic among passengers when he lunged for an emergency exit in an apparent attempt to fling it open, Mr. Van der Waarden said. 'One guy is yelling: 'Hey, we need help back here! He's trying to open the door,'' Mr. Van der Waarden said. Mr. Van der Waarden said that he felt the plane suddenly being diverted when a pilot, citing an unruly passenger's behavior, announced that it would be landing in Cedar Rapids. As the plane was descending, Mr. Nikprelaj began marching toward the front of the plane and again quarreled with passengers and crew members who tried to stop him, Mr. Van der Waarden said. 'He was just being very aggressive,' he said. Video captured by Mr. Van der Waarden from inside the plane after landing showed a man in a white T-shirt, hands bound behind him, being escorted off the plane by law enforcement officers. It remained grounded for more than two hours while the police took statements from passengers and the crew, Mr. Van der Waarden said. SkyWest Airlines confirmed in a statement that the flight had been diverted 'due to an unruly customer' and that the plane later continued to Detroit after that person was detained. In addition to assault and disorderly conduct, Mr. Nikprelaj was charged with harassment, unlawful possession of prescription medication and a failure to affix a proper tax stamp on 41 pills of Alprazolam, an anti-anxiety drug commonly sold as Xanax, which the police found on him at the time of the arrest, according to a criminal complaint filed on Friday by the Linn County assistant attorney. The Cedar Rapids Police Department said on Thursday that Mr. Nikprelaj could face additional charges. Mr. Nikprelaj could not be reached for comment on Friday, and it was not clear if he had a lawyer. He appeared before a judge on Friday morning, and a judge set his bail at $10,000.
Daily Mail
18-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Petrifying moment man tries to open Delta plane's door in mid-air as he fights with the flight crew
A Delta flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Iowa after an 'unruly' passenger attempted to open the emergency exit door. Delta Connection flight 3612, operated by SkyWest Airlines was diverted to Cedar Rapids at around 6pm on Thursday. The terrifying XXX came after 23-year-old Mario Nikprelaj allegedly tried to open an exit row door mid-air. The Detroit-bound aircraft was around a third of the way through its flight from Omaha, when the terrifying moment caused the plane's emergency landing. Fellow passengers and crew members reportedly stopped Nikprelaj, who allegedly got into an altercation with one of the flight attendants, from opening the door. The aircraft's pilot was heard in communications to the Eastern Iowa Airport tower that a passenger was, 'in a fight with our flight attendant right now, trying to open the emergency exit,' WMTW reported. Footage from a fellow passenger showed Nikprelaj being escorted off the aircraft by law enforcement once the flight had safely landed. 'SkyWest has zero tolerance for unruly behavior, as safety for our customers and crew is our top priority,' the airline said in a statement. Nikprelaj was booked into Linn County Correctional Center on charges of disorderly conduct, assault, possession of prescription medication, tax stamp and first-degree harassment. Further charges are possible pending the Cedar Rapids Police Department's ongoing investigation. The flight eventually continued its journey at 8.24pm. The wannabe rapper from Nebraska had a previous brush with the law after he was caught shirtless and barefoot in a stolen snow plow in Michigan. At 18, Nikprelaj had reportedly got into an argument with his then-girlfriend at around 6.30 in the morning. Police said he had been in his girlfriend's car when the argument became physical, and she stopped the car where he got out. He ran to the nearby running snow plow owned by a landscape firm, but didn't realize that the vehicle had in-cab video and a GPS tracker. 'They were moving cars about the lot when he came across it, hopped in and took off,' Shelby Township police Det. Lt. Pat Barnard said, WDIV reported. The snow plow's owner alerted police to the stolen vehicle and Nikprelaj was taken into custody. His girlfriend told police that Nikprelaj had assaulted her, the outlet reported. He was charged with unlawfully driving away in an automobile, domestic violence and a probation violation. Nikprelaj had reportedly fought with police officers prior to the incident, Shelby Township police said. The mid-air emergency follows an incident in May after a China Eastern Airline flight descended into chaos when a passenger opened the emergency exit for 'fresh air.' Footage showed a male passenger pull the emergency handle, deploying the evacuation slide on flight MU5828, which was taxiing on the runway as it arrived in Kunming. According to witnesses, the man appeared calm, but had told others he opened the door to get a breath of fresh air.
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Yahoo
Ex-NFL player denies 'unruly' behavior after Delta flight diverted
A former NFL player is speaking out after a report said he was removed from a Delta Air Lines flight from Chicago that turned around for what the airline described as an unruly passenger. Delta flight 1902, which left Chicago O'Hare International Airport on Wednesday, July 16, bound for Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, returned after crew members "followed procedures to have an unruly passenger removed," Delta spokesperson Morgan Durrant told USA TODAY. Former NFL Pro Bowl defensive end Everson Griffen, who TMZ Sports identified as the passenger that was removed, posted an Instagram story saying: "I'm doing just fine. My behavior was not unruly at all. Why would they let me go.' The Delta spokesperson did not identify the passenger, nor elaborate on what the passenger allegedly did. USA TODAY has reached out to Griffen, 37, for more details. Delta: 'Zero tolerance for unruly behavior' According to flight tracking website Flight Aware, the Airbus A220 took off from Chicago at 11:15 a.m. local time and returned to the airport at 12:09 p.m. "Delta has zero tolerance for unruly behavior and will always work with law enforcement to that end," Durrant said on July 17. "We apologize to our customers for the delay in their travel as safety and security comes before everything else at Delta." 'In-flight altercation': Flight to London diverts to Maine 4-time Pro Bowler Griffen made four Pro Bowls in the NFL, all with the Vikings, after spending his college career at the University of Southern California. Griffen took leave from the Vikings in 2018 to receive treatment for mental health issues, USA TODAY previously reported. He spent the first 10 seasons of his NFL career with the Vikings, then split time between the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys in 2020 before signing a deal with Minnesota in 2021. In 2024, after being pulled over by a Minnesota State Trooper in Minneapolis on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, Griffen replied to a post on a Vikings' fan page on X, publicly announcing he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. "You will have hard times," Griffen wrote. "The most incredible thing you can do is to listen to people who love you the most." Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@ and follow her on X @nataliealund. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Everson Griffen denies 'unruly' behavior after Delta flight diverted
CNA
27-06-2025
- CNA
Passenger dragged off Thai Lion Air flight after row over emergency exit seat request
SINGAPORE: A passenger was dragged off a Thai Lion Air plane on Wednesday (Jun 25) after reportedly demanding a change of seats as his window seat did not have enough legroom. The man became upset and got into a row with flight attendants after his request to be moved to an emergency exit seat was denied, according to the New York Post and People magazine. Such seats are more expensive as they typically provide more legroom compared to standard economy seats. In a viral video posted on X, authorities were seen yanking the passenger, who was wearing a bright orange Garfield shirt, out of his seat. The man's arms were held together as he was dragged down the aisle and off the plane, with at least five people accompanying him. Fellow passengers called the man "selfish" and told him to "get off the plane", while another was heard saying: "When you said apologise for the first thing I said, don't forget that." The Mirror reported that the man's refusal to cooperate meant that the plane's departure from Bangkok's Don Mueang International Airport was delayed by an hour. The US Federal Aviation Administration noted in August 2024 that airlines had reported more than 1,240 unruly passenger cases that year. Some airlines like Ryanair have opted to tackle disruptive behaviour by imposing fines. Ryanair, Europe's biggest airline by passenger numbers, said in a statement on Jun 12 that "disruptive passengers whose unruly behaviour" result in their removal from aircraft would be fined €500 (US$585).
