Passengers on United flight restrain unruly man after violent outburst on flight to LAX

ByABC7.com staff KABC logo
Wednesday, November 27, 2024 5:46AM
Passengers on LAX flight restrain unruly man after violent outburst
A man on a United Airlines flight from Austin to Los Angeles had to be restrained after he began violently kicking a seat and smashing his tray table.

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A passenger on a recent United Airlines flight to Los Angeles was filmed in a violent outburst as he repeatedly kicked a seat and smashed up a plastic tray until other flyers stepped in to restrain him.

Video recorded by another passenger shows the man standing on a seat, kicking the cushion again and again and destroying the plastic tray table.

Gino Galofaro said he filmed the incident and then worked with others to restrain the man.

"I took that video really quick and I watched the flight attendant walk by and do nothing," Galofaro told ABC7. "Nobody on the plane was doing anything. So I got up and proceeded to restrain him. Two other bystanders were getting zip ties from the flight attendant. So we had to restrain him with zip ties and then seat belt him to the seat."

Galofaro is the founder of Hope Interventions, a Southern California organization that specializes in substance abuse recovery. He says he believes the unruly passenger was under the influence of drugs.

United says law enforcement met the plane upon its arrival at LAX. The passenger has been banned from all future flights on the airline.

The incident happened on United Flight 502 from Austin to LAX on Nov. 16.

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