Police break up fight on plane after chaotic 8-hour delay

August 16, 2019

A massively delayed flight turned chaotic Thursday night after a fight broke out between passengers. The flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York left passengers stuck on board for eight hours before finally taking off for Miami.

Several passengers shared details of the miserable experience on Twitter in real-time. “Kids and young families on the plane, terribly frustrated,” Juan Andres Ahmad tweeted with a video from the plane. “NO food. Cabin crew offers nothing but excuses. Horrifying experience.”

During the delay, several passengers got into an altercation, and the crew called Port Authority Police, Delta said. Videos on social media show frustrated customers screaming while police and flight attendants tried to calm people down.

??A small sample of the increasing chaos happening right now aboard Miami -bound Delta 2385.
It’s sitting on the tarmac at JFK for 8hrs now (!)… passengers kept onboard with no clear info and now armed officers responding to a fight…@Delta ? Response? pic.twitter.com/UgHhmGMJ59

— Glenna Milberg (@GlennaWPLG) August 16, 2019

@Delta 8 HOURS and counting. Captain had “no idea” where the ground crew was. Parked in a “remote gate” in JFK. No food, no water. A fight broke out, police was called. A NIGHTMARE. @nytimes @ABC pic.twitter.com/iUHjZqofy8

— Juan Andres Ahmad (@juanchi72) August 16, 2019

“This has gotten out of control — there are people fighting each other and it’s gotten both verbal and physical,” Ahmad tweeted. “Police are on the plane! Complete chaos! I understand weather delays and we all want to be safe but this is not about weather but about how Delta has handled it.”

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“Passenger on the flight. It’s miserable,”another passenger tweeted. “Started as a weather delay, then turned into an air traffic delay, then became a refueling delay. Flight attendants have admitted this is chaos and they know nothing. Claimed the gate crew ditched us at one point.”

Delta said no customers were involuntarily removed from the flight following the police involvement.

“Delta flight 2385 with service from JFK to Miami was delayed due to weather in both Miami and New York,” A Delta spokesperson told CBS News. “Customers were offered both water and snack service while on the tarmac and were also offered the chance to take a bus back to the terminal given the plane was parked on a remote pad for quite some time.”