THIS is the terrifying moment a screaming plane passenger who refuses to let go of a woman’s hair is restrained by a “hero” flight attendant.
A video shared on social media captures the courageous Alaska Airlines staff member hitting the man repeatedly as he grips onto the hair of the passenger seated in front of him.
He clings onto the lady’s hair despite passengers and crew crowding round, trying to prize his fingers off.
The woman pleads: “Let go of her hair, sir,” but he pays no attention.
More attendants run down the aisle to deal with the struggle.
It is only after numerous closed-fist bashes from the crew member that the man lets go, losing his glasses in the commotion.
The lady is quickly ushered out of harms way, looking shaken.
The flight attendant keeps a firm hand on the man’s shoulder whilst the woman escapes.
But restrained passenger continues to act erratically, shaking from side to side and letting out animistic screeches.
The flight attendant says: “I need another – people wanting to come help me.”
The chaos broke out on an Alaska Airlines Flight at California’s Oakland International Airport, just before its take-off to Portland, Oregon.
One person who posted a video of the clash to X said it happened around 10:35am.
The reason behind the man’s aggressive behavior remains unclear, although a fellow passenger mentioned that he was subdued and detained for a few minutes before authorities took him into custody.
They added that the aircraft returned to the gate and the flight was then cancelled “after an attendant refused to fly and could not be replaced”.
Alaska Airlines released a statement saying, “On February 1, Alaska Airlines Flight 2221, operated by Horizon Air, traveling from Oakland to Portland had to return to the gate before takeoff because of an altercation involving a passenger.
“He appeared to be experiencing a violent medical episode that involved an ongoing physical assault against other passengers and our crew.
“Our flight attendants’ highest responsibility is the safety of guests and crew on board.
“Our crew responded to this chaotic situation quickly and kept all guests safe until law enforcement could intervene.
“At this time, the guest in question has been banned from Alaska and Horizon due to the nature of the physical assault.”
The X account that posted the video gave the following description of the action:
“We were about to take off from OAK to PDX but this dude started saying weird stuff and rocking back and forth.
“A flight attendant was called then he grabbed the woman’s hair in front of him and wouldn’t let go so the flight attendant started punching him in the throat.
“He was restrained for several minutes before being arrested. The flight was cancelled after an attendant refused to fly and could not be replaced.
“[One] lady said he said he was an alcoholic on five medications before he started repeating himself and glitching out.”
Another user identified themselves as the lady who had her hair pulled.
She wrote: “Thank you for posting this. I am the woman whose hair he grabbed. An employee from Alaska sent this to me.
“I was caught off guard and thought that old man was gonna start punching me in the head. He really snatched my hair and would have pulled it out.
“The man was having a psychotic episode, banged his head multiple times on the back of my seat, shortly lost consciousness, regained consciousness and grabbed my hair close to the scalp.
“Had I leaned forward with him grabbing my hair, he could have pulled my hair out. I was afraid this man was going to punch me in the head and I am thankful for the FA and other passengers who stepped in to help.”
