American Airlines Passenger Bites Flight Attendant’s Hand, Opens Galley Door and Jumps Onto Tarmac

Flight attendants have been known to ‘peace out’ by popping an aircraft slide on arrival and running away down the tarmac. (Although sometimes they just set fire to the lav.)

Sometimes passengers open the aircraft door and head off themselves to avoid deportation or simply because when you can’t find the bathroom you try all the doors.

So what Tun Lon Sein did yesterday in jumping out of an American Eagle regional jet in Charlotte prior to departure for New Bern, North Carolina wasn’t all that uncommon.

What makes this incident newsworthy is that he was determined enough to jump onto the tarmac that he bit a PSA flight attendant’s hand in the process.

Sein, who was traveling from Thailand, got out of his seat, went to the main aircraft door and tried to open it, according to the criminal complaint. The document said the flight attendant and two other passengers got out of their seats and attempted to get Sein to return to his seat.

Sein is accused of trying to bite the flight attendant’s hand before opening the galley service door and jumping onto the tarmac.

An airport ramp worker and a Charlotte airport operations staff member went to the tarmac and stopped Sein from running onto the taxiway, court documents said.

From an early age we’re taught the maxim “don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” However since American only offers free meals in domestic economy on premium New York JFK – Los Angeles and San Francisco flights, Tun Lon Sein apparently thought he was in the clear.

The man was hospitalized and appeared in court Friday morning.

(HT: Ken A.)

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. The article you quote clearly states that he TRIED to bite the FA’s hand. Might want to fix your headline, assuming you’re not just trying to generate clicks 🙂

  2. I actually was working as a gate manager in training during that event, it caused complete chaos…I have never witnessed such a crazy situation in my experience working with the airlines!

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