Flight Attendant Attacked By Passenger, Loses Teeth On Sacramento Flight

A flight attendant on Southwest Airlines was assaulted by a passenger and lost two teeth, according to a union president.

The attack happened last weekend, reports CBS13 and AP News.

On Tuesday, May 25, a Southwest spokesperson announced the incident took place on Sunday morning (May 23) after a flight from Sacramento to San Diego.

“The passenger repeatedly ignored standard inflight instructions and became verbally and physically abusive upon landing,” said the spokesman, Chris Mainz.

Police were called in to meet the plane when it landed in San Diego and the passenger was taken into custody.

"Unfortunately, this is just one of many occurrences,” said the union president, Lyn Montgomery.

On Monday, May 24, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said airlines have reported 2,500 incidents of unruly passengers just this year. There have also been 1,900 cases in which passengers have refused to wear face masks, which is required by federal rule.

The FAA also announced it was seeking penalties against five passengers for behavior ranging from refusing to put on a mask to assaulting flight attendants. The penalties total $54,500.

According to Montgomery, there have been 477 incidents of misconduct by passengers on Southwest flights from April 8 to May 15.

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