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Flight Attendant Allegedly Slaps Crewmembers, Hits Air Marshal

An American Airlines flight attendant was recently charged with attacking other crewmembers and a U.S. marshal.

Joanne Snow, an American Airlines fight attendant who referred to herself as “crazy” and a “train wreck,” has recently been charged with attacking crewmembers on a flight from Charlotte, N.C., to Frankfurt, Germany, last week. She also attacked a U.S. marshal. The actual charge was “interference with flight crews and attendants, and with assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer or employee of the United States,” the Chicago Tribune reported.

Before the flight in question, other crewmembers had noticed Snow acting erratically and requested she not fly, but American Airlines sent her anyway. During the course of the flight, she slapped another flight attendant in the face, shoved an air marshal several times, grabbed the collar of another one and hit an air marshal in the chest. Her behavior lasted the duration of the flight, and she allegedly became even more agitated once on the ground.

“Before we even departed Charlotte, Snow made several unsolicited comments to me that she was ‘crazy’ and a ‘train wreck,'” federal Air Marshal Joseph Fialka told the Tribune. “I have worked around Snow several times prior to this. Her behavior on Nov. 23 and 24, 2015, was exceptionally unusual.”

When the plane landed, Snow attempted to get past passport control but was eventually detained after a violent outburst.

“I noted that she screamed ‘The Air Marshals are gonna get me!'” Fialka told the Tribune. “She sat down and laid completely on her side. When I reached down to lift her back up she kicked me approximately five or six times, striking both my legs.”

[Photo: American Airlines]

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3 Comments
D
diamantaire December 2, 2015

After the lufthansa/ germanwings crash i think the airlines should take the mental / physical well being of the their staff utmost seriously !!

C
cfsnco December 2, 2015

Sadly, Something in the tonight.... comes to mind. hopes she gets help.

D
drvannostren December 1, 2015

So it sounds like the woman has a serious problem, she wasn't just having a bad day or drunk. Obviously she has to be held accountable for her actions, then needs help for the root cause. However, when she requested not to fly, the airline needs to take those things seriously and take some time to figure out why. There's no need to pry completely into employees lives, but if she just says "I don't feel like it"...then either fire her, or send her anyway. If she says "it's personal" then maybe some more digging, if she says "I'm sick" then she could just say that and basically go home, she might get some discipline because it was last minute but it's better than the alternative.