Woman Taken Off Plane In Handcuffs For Saying She Wouldn't Perform Exit Row Duties — 'I'm Going To Save Myself'
The entire plane was also forced to deboard.
Matej Kastelic / Shutterstock Sitting in an exit row on a flight comes with extra legroom and extra responsibility.
One passenger seated in the exit row aboard a Frontier flight admitted she would be unwilling to assist others in the case of an emergency. At her refusal, things quickly escalated and disrupted the plans for everyone on board.
The woman was taken off the plane in handcuffs after she refused to agree to perform exit row duties while sitting in an exit row.
The unidentified woman, whose tantrum was captured and posted on TikTok by user @travelwithtia23, caused a stir after she allegedly claimed that she would only save herself in the event of an emergency, despite sitting in an exit row.
For those unfamiliar with air travel, the exit row of most aircrafts is reserved for passengers who are able and willing to assist others in the event of an emergency. After listening to a briefing by flight attendants, all passengers seated in the exit row must verbally agree to perform such tasks if needed. If they refuse, they must change seats or deboard the plane.
While on a Frontier flight departing from Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, a woman seated in the exit row reportedly refused to comply with exit row instructions before Tia began filming.
“Oh, I’m not going to save anybody. If something happens, I’m going to save myself,” the woman can be heard declaring in the video.
Her proclamations were overheard by a flight attendant, who approached her. Although the woman claimed that she was only “joking,” she still refused to give a verbal “yes” in compliance with the exit row requirements.
The woman also refused to change her seat or deboard from the plane, which quickly resulted in a heated exchange where the woman became unruly, even spitting out racial slurs at one of the flight attendants.
With the concern for the safety of the other passengers, the police were called to the scene, and the woman was escorted off the plane in handcuffs.
Tia provided a more in-depth explanation of the incident in a follow-up video, claiming that the woman had demonstrated a fierce “attitude” the entire time she was aboard the aircraft.
“This may have been her first time in an exit row,” Tia acknowledged. “So she did not understand, or did not realize, or wants to understand that the flight attendant has to get a verbal yes from everyone.”
When the woman began to grow belligerent toward the flight attendants, they called upon the flight manager to escort her off the plane. When she refused to move, the manager called the pilot.
When she still refused, the pilot called the police, who then escorted her off the flight in handcuffs while the woman claimed to be flying to visit her grandson.
The other passengers were then forced to deboard the flight so that the police could thoroughly complete the arrest.
While most online agreed that it was the right thing to remove the woman from the aircraft for the sake of other passengers, others questioned why she was even seated in the exit row knowing what it entailed. Many theorized it was due to the additional legroom.
Yuttapol Phetkong / Shutterstock
But the reason for the extra space in exit rows is not there for your own comfort. It exists so that passengers are given enough space to swiftly exit the aircraft in the event of an emergency.
If you feel unprepared or are unwilling to assist with exit row duties, that is completely acceptable! Nobody is required to sit in an exit row, and you have the freedom to pre-select your seats when booking your flight.
However, if you choose to sit in an exit row, you may not want to loudly announce to your fellow passengers that you won’t be of any help to them in an emergency.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.