A violent altercation between two passengers onboard a domestic flight in the United States has been caught on camera and shared on social media. The incident comes as authorities attempt to deal with a massive increase in onboard violence, many linked to mask-wearing and COVID-19.
This video was taken on a Spirit Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta on Friday (local time).
The footage focuses on two women who appear to be having a heated argument and as tensions begin to rise, one person can be heard yelling, "she's not even wearing a mask, she's not even wearing a mask!"
The arguing continues with one passenger pointing at the other with her fingers in a gun-like gesture. Then a physical fight begins between the two passengers.
As the brawl intensifies, passengers reach for the mobile phones and start recording it.
One man begins chanting: "It's lit, it's lit!"
As the entire aircraft apparently becomes aware of the incident, waves of laughter and cheers can be heard. In the video, which runs for 39 seconds, there is no sign of security, passengers or staff attempting to intervene.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has previously warned of a steep rise in the number of violent incidents onboard aircraft during the pandemic.
So far this year, there have been 3509 reports of unruly passengers made to the FAA, that's an increase of 250 percent on the number of cases for the entire year of 2019.
On top of this figure, 2605 mask-related incidents have also been reported.
Rules were recently changed to allow the FAA to implement a fine of up to $37,000 per violation for unruly passengers.
