Aboard a popular US airline, a heated exchange between two female travellers rose to such a fever pitch that their flight was diverted hundreds of miles off course.
We’ve covered some pretty out-of-hand travel stories here at DMARGE — from a man urinating all over his business class cabin to the American teen who was detained for ‘skiplagging’, from the drugged-out Korean teen who pulled a ‘Mission Impossible’ and the German woman that bared all before biting a police officer — but few incidents draw such significant consequences as an American flight this week that was diverted over 1,000km after an argument between passengers got heated.
The Frontier Airlines flight was en route to Las Vegas when it was unexpectedly forced to divert to Denver due to a physical altercation between two passengers, as reported by The Independent. The incident left fellow travellers bewildered and concerned for their safety in equal measure. Thankfully, one canny passenger was quick to record the incident for posterity and — dare we say it — your enjoyment…
WATCH: The fight and its aftermath.
After departing from Philadelphia, the flight had been going smoothly until chaos erupted, seemingly out of nowhere. Passengers were understandably taken aback as two women began to engage in a heated exchange which, seemingly unable to resolve the still-unknown underlying issue, quickly escalated into a full-blown physical confrontation that forced cabin crew to intervene before requesting the pilot make an unscheduled landing over 700 miles (~1000km) from the original destination.
Footage captured by a quick-thinking TikTok user offers a glimpse into the confrontation but sadly fails to really unpick why the conversation exploded so dramatically. Videos show the two women shouting at each other — as well as the well-intended but arguably foolish passengers who tried to intervene — in a barrage of expletives and escalating threats. Other passengers can be heard expressing their wholly understandable frustration, asking the women to desist with little success.
The catalyst for all of this remains unclear, though it appears the two women were acquainted with one another before the flight began, implying that some on-the-ground drama may have been carried over into the cabin. Flight attendants relocated one of the passengers to a different section of the aircraft in an attempt to defuse the situation, but the verbal onslaught persisted with one woman allegedly hitting a male passenger. Speaking to KSNT, a bystander had this to say:
“It was fairly disruptive, so passengers began to tell them to shut up because their behavior was escalating.”
Anonymous Passenger
On landing in Denver, authorities swiftly escorted the two women off the plane while fellow passengers were asked to provide statements to the police. After the incident was finally resolved, the flight resumed its journey and finally reached Las Vegas, albeit with an hour-long delay. The crew’s handling of the situation has been praised by many, with one passenger summarising as follows:
“Luckily, the Vegas-based Frontier crew was great.”
Anonymous Passenger
As these two passengers expertly demonstrated how turned emotional turbulence can quickly morph into an unexpected and unwelcome layover, a small silver lining has emerged: it turns out that in-flight entertainment isn’t the only thing that can keep you on the edge of your seat.