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A shocking video of a Texas man named Cody Benjamin Lovins punching and assaulting a United flight worker has been making the rounds on social media. The 47-year-old man has been charged with battery and was arrested at the San Francisco Internation Aiport’s Terminal 3. Cody was traveling from San Francisco to Houston but got into a fight and assaulted a flight worker before the flight took off.
The Montgomery resident has now been banned by the airline. As per the authorities, he didn't just assault the flight attendant but even tried to jump out of the emergency exit.
A video of the altercation was later posted on social media by another passenger, Naya Jimenez. The latter claimed that the violence happened after Cody Benjamin became upset with the flight attendant and ended up punching her. Naya said that the altercation took place because Cody's wife was sitting in the wrong seat.
Needless to say, the whole fight has infuriated netizens who have asked the airline to “throw him in jail.”
The video shared on social media also showed passengers stepping in to assist the airline workers and grabbing Cody Benjamin Lovins by his blue t-shirt. They managed to restrain the 47-year-old until the authorities arrived.
The video of Cody Benjamin Lovins punching United Airlines flight worker infuriates the masses
Numerous new channels, including ABC7 shared the video of the altercation between a United flight attendant and a passenger, Cody Benjamin Lovins, on their social media pages. The video and the altercation has sparked outrage on social media. Viewers were appalled after seeing Lovins throwing punches at the airline employee as fellow passengers rushed to intervene and subdue him.
Despite the commendable actions of the passengers, the incident has left many questioning the safety of airline workers and the behavior of unruly passengers. While some said that people who assault flight attendants or airline crew should be placed on a "lifetime no-fly list," others said that Cody should be put in prison.
The alleged altercation happened due to issues with the seat
The person who originally posted the video, Naya Jimenez said that the altercation happened when she made her way to her assigned seat. However, she found her seat already occupied by Cody Benjamin's wife, which led to the dispute.
When Naya confronted Benjamin's wife, the latter told her to sit somewhere else as she wasn't ready to move. Naya asked for help from a flight attendant which led to an ugly spat between Naya and Benjamin's wife. As the disturbance onboard the United flight continued, a flight attendant eventually made her way to the scene to investigate the situation.
Speaking about the Cody Benjamin incident, Jimenez said:
"Although you can tell at that point his speech was a little bit slurred, he explained that they had a flight delayed and eventually missed their flight and between the waiting time from their previous flight to the flight that we were on, he upgraded both of their seats.”
Cody and his wife refused to move from the seat that Naya stated was assigned to her.
A representative the airline also addressed the matter, and called Cody Benjamin's behavior “unacceptable.” The statement issued by the airline read:
"On Sunday night, our team at San Francisco International Airport immediately contacted law enforcement after a disruptive customer assaulted one of our customer service employees during boarding."
The statement added that the passenger's behavior was "unacceptable" and that he was banned from all future United Flights. The airline is also working with law enforcement as they investigate the altercation on the flight.
The turn of events has drawn attention to the challenges faced by flight crews when dealing with unruly passengers, and the need for airlines to ensure the safety and security of their employees and customers.
