Video Shows Self-Upgrading Passenger Roughly Removed from Korean Air Flight

An American, who reportedly upgraded her economy class seat to a perch in the business class cabin, was physically dragged from a Korean Air flight this week after she refused to return to her assigned seat.The woman’s increasingly odd behavior included accusing the airline of stealing her passport and apparently attempting to conjure assistance by repeatedly uttering the words “air marshal.”

Cellphone footage captures the scene as an oddly behaving passenger from the U.S. was quickly and efficiently dragged from the cabin of an Incheon International Airport (ICN) to San Francisco International Airport (SFO)-bound Korean Air flight on Friday. Although the video shows airline employees not sparing much physical force to rush the disruptive flyer from the plane, cabin crew members are also captured displaying a touch of kindness and can be heard offering the ejected passenger a blanket after she was deposited in a wheelchair on the jetway to wait law enforcement.

According to The San Francisco Chronicle, the unnamed passenger reportedly arrived at the departure gate with an escort from the local U.S Embassy (which may have foreshadowed the bizarre events that would occur before the plane could takeoff). After the passenger allegedly upgraded herself from an economy class seat to a seat in the business class cabin, she stubbornly refused to return to her assigned seat despite repeated pleas from the crew.

“The passenger is a female US citizen and was assigned to seat 40D in economy class,” Korean Air officials told the newspaper. “She moved to seat 14B in business class. Cabin crew and a purser tried to convince her to return to her original seat, but she continued unruly behavior. After discussion, crew and a captain decided to remove the passenger to avoid further delay and for the sake of the flight safety.”

As the video continues, the woman is seen apparently being physically removed from the aircraft. Her subsequent behavior leaves little doubt that there was something else besides a desire for more legroom and a designer amenity kit behind the agitated passenger’s bizarre actions. At one point, the eccentric flyer seems to look to the camera before deadpanning the imaginary stage instructions: “Meanwhile at SpaceX.” She can also be heard accusing the airline of stealing her passport and repeatedly referencing the U.S. Air Marshal Service – even though there was no evidence of any federal officers being involved in the incident at all.

“The woman was transferred to the hospital first as she seemed to be suffering from a mental illness,” police told local media outlets in Seoul. “We plan to investigate her as soon as the hospital completes her examination.”