An angry woman was tackled and wrestled to the floor while approaching the flight deck on an American Airlines 787-9 jet traveling from Brazil to New York.

American Airlines Passenger Tackled After Rushing Cockpit On Delayed Flight

On Thursday, April 24, 2025, American Airlines flight 950, operated by a Boeing 787-9, pushed back from Sao Paulo (GRU) bound for New York (JFK). Due to runway congestion, takeoff was delayed by 30 minutes.

This seemed to exacerbate a woman traveling in business class, who took the unusual step of rising up and walking to the rear galley of the Dreamliner to complain. Whatever words were exchanged were harsh enough to get her thrown off, as the aircraft made a U-turn for the gate.

The U-turn made the woman even more upset and when she realized the U-turn was to offload her, she became livid. She saw a pilot coming out of the front galley and approached him to read him the riot act. At the time, the cockpit door was open.

A flight attendant tackled her and then pushed her back into the business class away from the cockpit. A companion or family member traveling in seat 1D can be seen yelling at the flight attendants not to use excessive force and yelling at the woman to shut up.

But it was too late…the woman, the man in 1D, and the entire party were removed.

As the woman stood in the business class cabin awaiting her ejection, she unleashed a tirade against the crew:

“You son of a b*tch, you’re disgusting, you can’t touch me, you don’t know who you’re talking to, you’re going to get f**ked. I went to ask why I was late and this a**hole threw me out!”

Not the way to endear yourself to a flight crew…

The return to the gate and paperwork involved ultimately led to a 2.5-hour delay.

My Thoughts

The mantra of approach the flight deck, get decked, strikes me as unnecessary…this whole incident strikes me as unnecessary. Not to defend the woman in any way, but I just don’t buy into the “better safe than sorry” defense when there are better ways to handle an irate customer.

Could she have been blocked without being thrown to the ground? How much de-escalation was employed before her takedown? Even the short video clip we have strikes me as an overreaction.

I have to wonder if the woman was intoxicated in some way, probably not with caipirinha, but maybe with a prescription drug or sleep aid? I have some empathy for her because who in their right mind would stand up while the aircraft was taxiing and go all the way to the back of the plane to complain?

Her poor language and erratic behavior justify her removal from the plane, but not necessarily the way in which it was done.

On the other hand, I acknowledge that I was not there and that in the heat of the moment, flight attendants do the best they can. When you see an angry woman rush for a cockpit, it’s understandable why you take no chances.

CONCLUSION

A woman was tackled and removed from an American Airlines flight on the ground in Sao Paulo after harshly criticizing the crew over a delay beyond their control and then approaching the cockpit to confront a pilot.

I’ll stop short of defending or condemning the crew, but approaching a flight deck door is still a serious deal, even 24 years after 9/11.

image: @aero_in / X