Delta Defends Pilot Who Hit Passenger Involved In Fight

Delta Airlines is defending video of a pilot hitting a woman who was involved in a fight with another passenger. The footage, released by TMZ Saturday (April 29), shows the pilot striking one of two women wrestling on the floor following a flight into Atlanta’s Hartfield-Jackson International airport.

The incident occurred on April 21, but the video recently surfaced in wake of recent altercations between airline employees and passengers. The women involved in the skirmish apparently knew each other.

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Delta reviewed the footage before it was leaked to the press, and confirmed that the pilot was temporarily suspended. However, he returned to work after an investigation was completed.

“We became aware of this incident and a video last week and immediately removed the pilot from duty while we completed a thorough investigation,” Delta rep Brian Kruse told the Washington Post in a statement. “Local law enforcement was called to respond at the time of the incident. The pilot has since been returned to work as our investigation found that his actions de-escalated an altercation between passengers on the Jetway floor during deplaning.”

The video comes on the heels of a Delta passenger being kicked off of a flight for using the bathroom. In a separate incident, similar to the United Airlines debacle, Detroit Metro police dragged a customer off of a Delta flight for reportedly failing to “comply with boarding and baggage check procedures.”

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