Airline outburst: Unruly passenger kicks seat, smashes tray on United flight from Austin to LAX

LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A passenger on a recent United Airlines flight to Los Angeles was filmed in a violent outburst, repeatedly kicking a seat and smashing a plastic tray until other flyers stepped in to restrain him.

Video recorded by another passenger shows the man standing on a seat kicking the cushion repeatedly and destroying the plastic tray table.

Gino Galofaro said he filmed the incident and then worked with others to restrain the man.

“I took that video really quickly and I saw the flight attendant walk by and not do anything,” Galofaro told ABC7. “No one on the plane did anything. So I got up and continued to restrain him. Two other bystanders were zip-lined by the flight attendant. So we had to zip-tie him and then seat-belt him.”

Galofaro is the founder of Hope Interventions, an organization in Southern California that specializes in substance abuse recovery. He says he believes the unruly passenger was under the influence of drugs.

United says police met the plane upon its arrival at LAX. The passenger has been banned from all future flights with the airline.

The incident happened on United Flight 502 from Austin to LAX on November 16.