Passengers Forced To Place Hands On Head During American Airlines Miami Flight

Passengers were ordered to remain in their seats with their hands on their head for the final hour of American Airlines flight due to a “security threat” onboard. Passengers were also repeatedly asked not to film. Upon landing, law enforcement personnel boarded the 777 jet to purportedly arrest a woman who had been screaming onboard.

Despite the repeated pleas not to film, one passenger did film and shared the following video on Twitter aboard AA2289 from Los Angeles (LAX) to Miami (LAX) last night:

Another passenger onboard called it the “scariest moment of my life” and asked for more details, suggesting that the airline did not provide details, even after landing.

Upon landing in Miami, passengers were deplaned via air stairs and bussed to the terminal. Law enforcement personnel boarded the flight upon landing.

Inside the terminal, passengers were forced to wait until cleared to depart by law enforcement personnel.

An American Airlines spokesperson also refused to go into detail, simply noting:

“Passengers were deplaned and bused to the terminal, and the aircraft was inspected by authorities. Safety and security is our top priority and we apologize to our customers for any inconvenience this caused.”

What could have occurred for passengers to be ordered to place their hands on their heads for the final hour of the flight? While my first thought was a bomb threat had been called in (why force the entire plane into an uncomfortable position rather than just have law enforcement personnel waiting to meet the flight and escort the passenger off if it was only one problematic passenger?)

But another passenger onboard reports the passenger arrested a woman who screamed for over 90 minutes and was eventually duct-taped to her seat.

Still, it is not clear if this tweet is referring to the same flight.

CONCLUSION

Passengers were asked to keep their hands on their heads for the final hour of American Airlines flight to Miami. Passengers were also warned not to take pictures or videos, which seems to me an open invitation to do so. It appears this was due to a screaming passenger onboard, though I suspect there was something more going on.

From: https://liveandletsfly.com/hands-on-head-american-airlines/