A Frontier Airlines passenger refused to comply with exit row instructions from a cabin crew member, forcing everyone on board to deplane.
In a viral TikTok video posted on May 9, travel blogger Tia (@travelwithtia23) shared with viewers how an unidentified woman wearing glasses got into an argument with airline staff. Meanwhile, her fellow passengers were begging her to get off the plane for all of them.
“This lady here, when she first got on the plane and got through the checkout line, she said, ‘Oh, I’m not going to save anyone.’ “If something happens, I’m going to save myself,” Tia explained. “That was her attitude throughout the seating process. “And I already knew something was about to happen when she had that attitude.”
The video shows the woman arguing with a flight attendant, and pointing to another flight attendant: “Yes, she is talking to me, what is the problem?”
“Because she doesn’t want to tell us her name?” The flight attendant interrupted as she placed her drink on the floor of the plane. “If there’s a problem-” the flight attendant tried to finish her sentence.
‘Problem? What’s the problem?’ “We don’t have a problem with that,” the woman interrupted as the flight attendant continued to try to relay the FAA-mandated exit row instructions. We know we have to help people get off the plane and help Betty White if something happens.”
“What is the problem?” “We agreed,” she repeated as the passengers started laughing in the background and the flight attendant walked away. “You’re wasting your breath. Are they going to get this plane off the ground?”
The woman then put her phone down and ate a snack before turning to the other flight attendant and saying: “Get out of my fucking face.”
“Did you ask her for consent?” “You’re not doing your job,” she continued as the flight attendant placed her hands in front of the passenger’s face. The passenger stepped back and opened her snack. “You better get out of my face, that’s what you should do, Betty.”
After they exchanged a few more words, the flight attendant walked away, but as she began to eat her snack, another employee came over to hand her a piece of paper. Immediately, the passenger became upset, as the employee tried to talk to her. “They said you weren’t listening-” said the clerk.
The woman tried to defend her case, saying that people witnessed her agreement with the instructions, but the flight attendant waved to another flight attendant.
“We all agreed. The woman said she was flying to take care of her 4-year-old grandson while his mother was on vacation. “And my grandson is leaving school, and his mother is flying to Mexico, and I am not getting off this plane.”
Then, the captain stepped in and announced to the passengers: “Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll be here soon. We have to take care of this problem. Law enforcement will be arriving.”
Eventually, police officers escorted her off the plane at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, but unfortunately, all passengers had to get off with her.
The unidentified woman challenged an FAA requirement that passengers sitting in the exit row must not only read instructions but also verbally confirm that they will carry out physical duties to assist others in the event of an emergency.
“Explorer. Unapologetic entrepreneur. Alcohol fanatic. Certified writer. Wannabe tv evangelist. Twitter fanatic. Student. Web scholar. Travel buff.”