A small American Airlines flight was forced to turn around after a passenger appeared to have a “fit of epilepsy” and physically assaulted multiple persons. The passenger’s strange conduct on the aircraft involved kicking and punching a passenger’s seat, attacking at least two flight attendants, and swallowing rosary beads, per a report.
The 31-year-old passenger was arrested and charged with misdemeanour battery, misdemeanour obstruction of police, and a felony count of criminal property damage, according to CNN. Fortunately, no one was severely hurt.
According to court documents, the man was travelling with his sister on a small Miami flight operated by Envoy Air, a regional carrier for Airlines. The flight had six other passengers on board, and flight attendants noticed that something was off with the man shortly after takeoff on Monday, prompting the aircraft to return to the airport in Savannah, Georgia.
Flight attendants became concerned when they observed him “stomping, incoherent yelling, and shaking,” FBI Agent Savannah Solomon said in her affidavit. Before the man became violent, he told his sister to “close her eyes and pray because Satan’s disciple(s) had followed them onto the plane,” the affidavit said.
According to the report, the man kicked a flight attendant in the chest after the attendant approached him. The force of the kick sent the attendant flying across the aisle and hitting the window. He proceeded to kick and punch the seat in front of him, which was occupied by another traveller. The passenger reportedly left the seat that was under attack, and the back collapsed.
When the flight landed at Savannah airport, the man reportedly ran towards the exit and then attacked another flight attendant with multiple punches. He was subdued by other passengers and when he was being detained by airport police, he swallowed rosary beads.
The man was first taken to the hospital for “ingestion of rosary beads” before he was taken into custody at the Chatham County jail. The FBI agent said his sister told her that they were headed to Haiti “to flee religious attacks of a spiritual nature,” and her brother “swallowed the rosary beads because they are a weapon of strength in the spiritual warfare.” She said her brother was neither mentally nor medically ill.
