The passenger who recorded the fight said the physical altercation was the result of a “two-sided” argument that lasted throughout the course of the flight
Photo: Felipe I Santiago/Shutterstock / Felipe I Santiago A video from a recent Southwest flight from Sacramento to San Diego captured a passenger attacking a flight attendant, leaving the attendant’s face bloodied and causing her to lose two teeth. The video shows the passenger, 28-year-old Vyvianna Quinonez, punching the attendant in the face and grabbing her hair before another passenger steps between the two to break up the fight.
. She claimed the attendant “was nothing but provocative, leaning over [Quinonez] on the aisle seat” during the flight, adding that the attendant was “very rude and unprofessional the whole flight.” However, she said the attendant’s behavior didn’t excuse the attack. Incidents of passengers attacking flight attendants have escalated as flight crews have been tasked with enforcing on-flight mask mandates. “This unprecedented number of incidents has reached an intolerable level, with passenger noncompliance events also becoming more aggressive in nature,” Lyn Montgomery, the union president for Southwest flight attendants, wrote in a recent letter to the Southwest chief executive.