Disturbing mid-flight incident caught on video
A woman caused chaos on a Southwest Airlines flight to Phoenix after stripping naked, screaming, and running up and down the aisle for 25 minutes, forcing the plane to return to its gate.
Footage of the incident, which has surfaced online, shows the woman undressing, shouting, and walking through the cabin in front of stunned passengers, including children.
Eyewitnesses describe shocking mid-air outburst
Passengers reported that the woman banged on the cockpit door, shouted at flight attendants, and demanded to be let off the plane.
One female passenger, speaking to 12 News, described the moment as “completely unexpected.”
“She started jumping up and down, screaming at the top of her lungs,” the witness recalled. “It was very evident that she was having a mental breakdown.”
Another traveler told KHOU-TV, “She turned toward us and stripped all her clothes off.”
The Southwest Airlines flight was departing from William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas, on Monday when the incident unfolded.
Authorities respond as flight is forced to turn back
After the flight returned to the gate, an airline worker covered the woman with a blanket, though she later removed it.
Authorities took the woman into custody and transferred her to the NeuroPsychiatric Center at Harris Health Ben Taub Hospital in Houston for a medical evaluation.
Officials confirmed that no charges were filed due to the woman’s erratic behavior.
Southwest Airlines released a statement on Thursday, saying that Flight 733 had returned to the gate due to a “customer situation onboard.”
“Our teams have reached out to customers onboard the flight to apologize for the delay to their travels,” the airline said.
Similar incident in Australia
A similar mid-air disturbance occurred in Australia when a man ran naked through the cabin of a Virgin Australia flight departing Perth for Melbourne. That flight was also forced to return, and the man was later arrested.
