- A Southwest Airlines crew member was hospitalized after a passenger assault, NBC News reported.
- A 32-year-old woman was charged with aggravated assault, Fox Business reported.
- In a statement to media outlets, Southwest said it had a “zero-tolerance policy” for assaults.
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A Southwest Airlines crew member has been hospitalized after a passenger assault, according to reports.
A passenger on a flight from Texas to New York punched the employee after an argument with another crew member, NBC News reported, citing a Dallas Police report.
The assault reportedly happened during the boarding process.
Fox Business identified the passenger as a 32-year-old woman, saying she was charged with aggravated assault.
After a verbal fight near the rear of the plane, the passenger “went to the front of the plane where she had another verbal altercation with another flight attendant,” Fox reported, also citing a police report. The woman then started “hitting her with a closed fist to the head,” the report added.
Southwest sent a statement to several outlets, saying a station manager was at the hospital with the crew member who was assaulted.
“Southwest Airlines maintains a zero-tolerance policy regarding any type of harassment or assault and fully support our Employee as we cooperate with local authorities regarding this unacceptable incident,” the spokesperson told NBC News.
In August, The Federal Aviation Administration said it had logged 3,715 incidents of unruly passengers in the first seven months of 2021. It started investigations into about 600 incidents, roughly double what it investigated in each of the prior two years.