- Videos show bedlam on a Delta Airlines flight after it was delayed seven hours and police were called to break up fights.
- Delta Flight 2385 was due to leave New York’s John F Kennedy Airport at 3:52 p.m. ET Thursday, but severe weather in Miami, the flight’s destination, left passengers stuck on the plane after boarding.
- As the delay continued, passengers became angry and police were called.
- Videos on Twitter show the Port Authority police seeking troublemakers onboard, while flight attendants calm irate passengers.
- The Airbus A320 finally took off for Miami at 11:10 p.m. ET and landed at 2:28 a.m. on Friday morning, 7 hours and 14 minutes late.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Videos posted online document chaotic scenes inside a Delta Airlines flight as it incurred seven hours of delays, which saw police called to stop frustrated passengers brawling.
Thursday’s 3:52 p.m. Delta flight from New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport to Miami International Airport was delayed because of poor weather, with flight data showing it didn’t leave until 11:10 p.m.
In the meantime, crammed onboard the Airbus A320, passengers began to brawl, videos and testimony posted on Twitter by passengers show.
👇🏼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
JFK Airport's official Twitter account replied to one video: "The Port Authority Police and the Airline are on the scene mitigating the situation."
A video posted to Twitter by ABC local 10 news anchor Glenna Milberg shows passengers angrily confronting Port Authority officers, while one officers asks passengers: "Who are the two people who started fighting?"
Passenger Juan Andres Ahmad tweeted a separate video of dozens of travellers standing up on Flight 2385, discussing the situation amid palpable tension.
Ahmad tweeted: "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."
@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
Ahmad wrote in a second tweet: "There are people fighting each other and it's gotten both verbal and physical. Police are on the plane! Complete chaos!"
Jesse Greshin tweeted to say she was one of the passengers onboard, describing the experience as "miserable."
"It's miserable. 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."
The plane was scheduled to land 7:14 p.m. but arrived seven hours 14 minutes late at 02:28 a.m. on Friday morning.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey media-relations department declined to comment when asked about the incident by Business Insider.
Delta Airlines did not immediately comment when contacted by Business Insider on Friday morning.