An American Airlines flight from DC to Phoenix went awry when patriotic passengers became “unruly.”
The not-so-American pilot of the flight threatened to land, and dump passengers off after flyers chanted “USA” in the cabin.
A viral video of the situation shows first nearly every person in the cabin chanting “USA, USA” and then cuts to a seat back as the captain comes over the loud speaker.
“This is the way it’s gonna be. Um, it’s a four-and-a-half-hour flight out to Phoenix. We’ll put this plane down in the middle of Kansas and dump people off — I don’t care. … We will do that if that’s what it takes. So behave, please.”
Afterwards passengers can be heard saying “I thought this was AMERICAN airlines!” And “behave?”
It’s currently unclear what else may have occurred between the “USA” chants and the pilots announcement. Some Twitter users claim that pro-Trump sentiments were also being shouted.
It’s also unclear if any other verbal warnings were given by the captain or his attendants.
In the video passengers appear to be happy and joyful, until they faced being “dumped off” in Kansas thousands of miles from their destination.
In a statement shared with PEOPLE, a rep for American Airlines says that the company “take(s) the safety of our customers seriously and we value the trust they place in our team to care for them throughout their journey.”
“Prior to departure from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), the pilot onboard flight 1242 made an announcement emphasizing the importance of following crew member instructions and complying with mandatory face-covering policies,” the rep adds, PEOPLE reported.
Perhaps it wasn’t the noise, or the “unruliness” but rather the lack of face masks. Could this be nothing more than an excuse for the captains inappropriate behavior?