An American Airlines passenger who kicked and spit at flight attendants and passengers and attempted to open the cabin door before she was secured to a seat with duct tape has been sued by the Federal Aviation Administration for $81,950, the largest fine issued by the agency for unruly behavior. The passenger, Heather Wells, 34, of San Antonio, was traveling first class from the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Texas to the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, on July 7, 2021, when about an hour into the flight she ordered a Jack Daniel’s and became agitated and said she “wanted out” of the plane, according to a lawsuit filed June 3 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Wells began running toward the back of the plane, where she dropped to her knees in the aisle and began “talking incoherently to passengers, before crawling back toward the main cabin,” the lawsuit said. When a flight attendant responded, Wells “became verbally aggressive and told the flight attendant that she would ‘hurt him’ if he didn’t get out of her way,” according to the court document. She then pushed him and moved to the front of the plane where she “lunged toward and attempted to grab” the cabin door, “all the while screaming and yelling profanities.” That was when two flight attendants and a passenger tried to restrain Wells, who struck one of the flight attendants in the head, the lawsuit said. They were able to restrain her with duct tape and flex cuffs and place her on a seat. But she continued to “kick and spit and attempted to bite and head butt,” which “necessitated” Wells to be further restrained with tape, including on her mouth, according to the suit. Wells told KENS 5 in San Antonio that she was having mental health issues and apologized in a statement. “I know that it was not rational and I was not actually in any external dangers but at the time I was genuinely afraid for my life,” the statement read. “Words can’t express how sorry I am for the fear I caused and the people I hurt.”
