Airline passenger goes berserk, fights flight attendants, tries to enter cockpit

Every air passenger knows that as a plane descends it is time to fasten your seat belt. A passenger on an American Airlines flight from Dallas, Texas to Charlotte, North Carolina, defied this rule and did plenty more besides.

In a bizarre air rage incident, Charlene Sarieann Harriott snapped and launched herself from her backrow seat towards the pilots’ compartment as the plane was about to touch down. She kicked and bit flight attendants who attempted to calm her.

When the plane was just 200 feet (60 meters) in the air, Harriott suddenly rose from her seat in the back and rushed towards the cockpit for no apparent reason.

Ignoring all calls by flight attendants to take her seat, the woman proceeded. It took three flight attendants to chase down and overpower Harriott, while she furiously resisted any attempt to rein her in.

The FBI, which brought criminal charges against Harriot, reported that she kicked two of them in the arm, leg and abdomen and bit one flight attendant till she bled. The crew were forced to use duct tape and zip ties around the woman’s ankles and wrists to restrain her.

Upon landing, the FBI apprehended Harriott and took her into custody. It later accused her of “knowingly and intentionally” disrupted the flight.

The crew were treated at the company’s clinic at the airport.