Authorities arrested a passenger on an American Airlines flight from Tampa International Airport following a racist rant and a threat to “take this plane down.”
A 29-year-old Tampa resident, Shail Patel, ignited a ruckus on American Flight 2506 earlier this week to the point that other passengers grabbed him, put him in a headlock, and marched him off the Philadelphia-bound plane while it was still at the gate.
Patel reportedly ripped one flight attendant with an “antisemitic slur,” the New York Post noted, and then issued a broader threat.
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“F–k you blue-eyed white devils,” Patel yelled, according to the Post, which cited court records. “I’m gonna take this plane down with all you motherf–kers on it.”
“He was belligerent as soon as he boarded,” the Post reported, and quickly “began acting erratically yelling and cursing at the passengers.”
Patel then reportedly slapped another unidentified passenger on the hand and face and spat on them.
“I’m trying to get to my home country and you all people made it harder for me to get to my home country,” he shouted, as seen in the video.
It’s unclear what that meant or where he was from.
The Post reported that a male passenger who restrained Patel and ushered him off the plane was a police officer. It wasn’t clear which agency he worked with.
Patel was arrested on two misdemeanor counts of battery and one count of disorderly intoxication, also a misdemeanor. He remained in the Hillsborough County jail on $2,150 bail as of Saturday.
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