FBI investigating alleged assault on Southwest airlines flight into Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - The FBI confirms it’s looking into a possible assault that may have happened on a Southwest Airlines flight coming into Phoenix on Saturday morning.

The Twitter thread has now gone viral, with the original post being retweeted over 30,000 times. It details what happened to one passenger during her flight to Phoenix Sky Harbor where she says a man used his chair to physically harm her. “Historically, that’s a big confrontational area because you have your space and that space is a tray table,” said Kenneth Ramage, a retired commercial airline pilot.

New statistics from the FAA report there have been nearly 700 investigations since the beginning of 2022. Ramage says he believes these types of unruly passengers picked up during the pandemic. “After a while you just get tired of not being with people, and then when you get on an airplane with everyone crowded together, it doesn’t take much to get the confrontation level up,” he said.

In this latest case, the victim says she experienced both misogynistic comments and racial slurs. Because the alleged incident happened mid-flight, the FBI says it’s investigating. So far, the man accused is not facing any charges. “People don’t understand, I believe, that it is a federal offense to interfere with crew members, damage the airplane or cause any incident on the airplane where physical contact is made,” Ramage said.

Southwest Airlines sent us the following statement:

On Tuesday afternoon, Phoenix Police Department tweeted the following statement:

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