Hasta La Gadget!

In the latest dust-up on a U.S. plane, an American Airlines employee was captured on video challenging a passenger to fight, saying, “C’mon, hit me,” during a tense showdown on a San Francisco flight.

Tempers flared on Flight 591 to Dallas on Friday less than two weeks after a passenger was dragged off a United flight to make way for a crew member to fly.

American Airlines issued a statement soon after the plane landed that officials are investigating the incident, and worker has been “removed from duty.”

As the video begins a woman is seen in the front of the plane, upset and crying, with a baby in her arms. The passenger who videotaped the incident, Surain Adyanthaya, said on Facebook that she had been struck by her stroller as a flight attendant roughly yanked it away from her as people were boarding. ABC reported that the passenger, who is reportedly Argentinian, may not have understood why her stroller was taken from her.

“OMG! AA flight attendant violently took a stroller from a lady with her baby on my flight, hitting her and just missing the baby,” Adyanthaya posted to Facebook. “Then he tried to fight a passenger who stood up for her.”

On the video, a man and a woman speak out on the woman’s behalf as she continues crying and asking for her stroller back. 

At one point a man with an ID around his neck, apparently the flight attendant who had taken the stroller, re-enters the plane and speaks to the pilot standing by. Then the male passenger jumps up from his seat, and points angrily at the airline employee, saying: “Hey, bud, you do that to me and I’ll knock you flat.”

“Try it,” the man says aggressively on the video. “Hit me. C’mon, hit me. C’mon, bring it on. You don’t know what the story is.” The pilot and the flight attendant are both touching the man, holding him back.

The passenger responds: “I don’t care what the story is. You almost hurt a baby!”

The woman and her children were escorted off the plane, according to Adyanthaya.

American issued a statement saying that officials launched an investigation into the incident after seeing the video. Officials offered no other details about what happened, but the airline apologized to the passenger and her family. She  was placed on another flight in first class and “we are taking special care of her and her family,” said the statement.

“What we see on this video does not reflect our values or how we care for our customers,. We are deeply sorry for the pain we have caused this passenger and her family and to any other customers affected by the incident.”

The statement added: “The actions of our team member captured here do not appear to reflect patience or empathy, two values necessary for customer care. In short, we are disappointed by these actions. The American team member has been removed from duty while we immediately investigate this incident.”

“We have seen the video and have already started an investigation to obtain the facts. What we see on this video does not reflect our values or how we care for our customers. We are deeply sorry for the pain we have caused this passenger and her family and to any other customers affected by the incident. We are making sure all of her family’s needs are being met while she is in our care.  After electing to take another flight, we are taking special care of her and her family and upgrading them to first class for the remainder of their international trip.

The actions of our team member captured here do not appear to reflect patience or empathy, two values necessary for customer care. In short, we are disappointed by these actions. The American team member has been removed from duty while we immediately investigate this incident.”

On April 9 Dr. David Dao was violently dragged from a United flight in Chicago because the airline needed seats for traveling crew members. His lawyer said he suffered a concussion and broken nose, and lost two teeth in the shocking confrontation.

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