Flight diverted after passenger allegedly shouts racial slurs, breaks out of restraints
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A drunk passenger on Breeze Airlines has been accused of yelling racial slurs at flight attendants and breaking free from restraints twice before another traveller the size of a tree intervened.
David Leroy Carter, 46, of Los Angeles, was taken into custody by Colorado police on Wednesday after he “became agitated” four hours into his flight that was travelling from LAX to Norfolk, Va., KNBC reported.
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The “intoxicated” passenger got into an altercation with other travellers and flight attendants, the airline said.
Carter, who allegedly shouted racial slurs at flight attendants while waving a skateboard, was eventually put in restraints twice during the flight but “he managed to break free both times” during his profanity-laced rant, according to authorities.
The pilot was forced to divert to Grand Junction, Colo., where the passenger was arrested shortly after landing and booked into the Mesa County Detention Facility.
Passengers on board the flight told the outlet that the man’s verbal tirade was racially charged.
“Just F-bombs and N-bombs,” one passenger, who wished not to be identified, said.
Comedian PK Mackey was seated a row away from Carter, and recalled his rudeness.
“To be honest with you, he was using a lot of racial slurs to the Black folk and the brown folk,” she said.
“We were thinking a lot of things.”
A video shared on TikTok, which has garnered more than 7.9 million views, shows one flight attendant struggling to restrain Carter.
“That’s the last thing you’re going to do to me,” he is heard telling the flight attendant.
“Stop! You need to sit down!” she demands while Carter smirks and replies, “No, ma’am.”
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That’s when a large man approaches Carter, picks up the drunken passenger like a toddler, carries him over to his seat and plonks him into it.
“Sit you’re a– down,” the man instructs the dumbfounded passenger.
Mackey recounted how the Good Samaritan deftly handled the situation.
“He literally picked this man up underneath his armpits and put him down like it was in a car seat. It was amazing.”
The towering hero, identified only as Ray, revealed to the outlet that he is a former high school football player.
“Instinct just took over,” he said. “I didn’t know it was going to get all like this. It was just instinct.”
Breeze Airlines issued a statement to KNBC following the incident, which is still under investigation.
“The plane was met promptly by local law enforcement officers, who restrained and removed the passenger from the aircraft,” the airline said.
“One Flight Attendant and one Guest were evaluated for minor injuries,” the statement continued.
“Our focus now is on taking care of our Crew and remaining Guests who have been unfairly inconvenienced by this unfortunate event and getting them safely to their final destination as quickly as possible.”
The FBI said charges will be submitted to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Colorado.
It is unclear what charges Carter is facing.
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