A 71-year-old female passenger was arrested and placed on a no-fly list after she allegedly slapped a flight attendant during a flight from Japan to Taiwan.
Video made its way to social media this week of the alleged April 3 assault, captured as the four-and-a-half-hour flight from Fukushima, Japan, to Taipei, Taiwan, was making its descent.
As flight IT753 prepared for its landing, the pilot instructed passengers to remain seated with their seatbelts fastened, various news outlets reported.
The passenger, identified by her surname, Zhang, chose to ignore the advisory and stand up in the aisle so she could put her shoes on. The 33-year-old flight attendant, surnamed Liu, was walking down the aisle to do her final safety checks when she inadvertently bumped into the senior.
“This caused Zhang to become agitated and start laying to the crew,” according to the New York Post’s translation of a report in Mandarin Chinese in local media.
The flight attendant apologized for the bump, and offered her ice packs and medical assistance. The passenger went into a tirade.
“The flight attendant asked if she needed a doctor, and she said it wasn’t serious, but she continued yelling,” recalled one witness, who added that the crew member acted professionally throughout the incident.
The video reveals the moment that the agitated senior slapped the flight attendant in the face.
Upon arrival at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, authorities from the Aviation Police Bureau boarded the plane and took Zhang into custody.
Both the attendant and passenger are reportedly pressing charges against each other over the incident, with potential lawsuits also in the mix.
The airline, Tigerair Taiwan, stepped up to defend its employee.
“Tigerair Taiwan expresses the strongest condemnation against such behavior that seriously violates employee dignity and personal safety,” an airline spokesperson said. “We will fully defend our colleagues’ legal rights and have appointed lawyers to assist the staff involved. The safety of crew members on duty is closely related to flight safety.”
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more
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