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Arizona woman captures moments of brawl onboard Southwest flight

Posted at 10:28 PM, Mar 08, 2023
and last updated 2023-03-09 07:04:11-05

A fight broke out onboard a plane in Dallas preparing to leave for Phoenix. Passengers say a man in a tan-colored sports jacket got upset after another man bumped into his wife.

It's unclear if the move was accidental or not but either way, things got pretty physical.

An Arizona passenger shared a cell phone video with ABC15, showing the two men in a brawl.

"He probably punched him four or five times before anybody started recording," said the woman who shared the video.

Several other passengers tried to pull them apart, but you can see the man in the tan jacket take another jab.

"Stop. No. Do not hit him again," yelled other passengers as heard in the video.

"There was a man sitting across the aisle. He was literally blocking off his 7-year-old daughter against the window because they literally landed in the seat next to them. I'm just happy he did it before we got in the air," said the woman who shared the video.

Flight 117 was in the boarding process in Dallas when the fight broke out. The passenger ABC15 spoke to says the man in the tan jacket was taken off the plane but then somehow came back on.

"He put his hands up and said, 'I'm just here to get my bags, I'm just here to get my bags.' And then, he started mouthing off to the guy again," the woman said.

In the video, you can hear some of what played out: "I'm telling everybody what happened. He approached me aggressively with my family. I don't play with my family. Tell them what happened, tell them what you did."

Southwest Airlines told ABC15 they commend their flight crew for managing the situation.

Despite the delay, ABC15 was told both men were taken off the plane and the flight continued on its way, landing in Phoenix on time. The passenger ABC15 spoke with says she was able to connect with the man in the tan jacket on social media.

"I think it was just a really good guy that had a lapse of judgment and he's definitely going to learn from this. I guess next time he'll fly Delta," the woman said.