NEW ORLEANS — A Memorial Day flight out of Louis Armstrong International became turbulent before it had even taken off. The plane to Houston had already taxied, until a passenger became unruly, according to fellow travelers.
“The flight attendant was asking her to buckle her seat belt, raise her seat and get her feet off the wall. She refused they asked her numerous times she still refused,” Johnathan Fancher, who was on the flight, said.
Fancher said when he boarded the flight he noticed a young woman stumbling a bit on the plane, but he didn’t think anything of it, until the commotion got louder.
He was sitting a few rows ahead of Kamaryn Gibson, a 25-year-old woman from Kansas. Fancher says flight attendants and gate agents tried to get Gibson to comply, but she repeatedly refused.
“At one point the flight attendants came on and let everyone know if she didn’t deboard they were going to have to completely deboard the entire plane to get her off,” Fancher said.
Eventually, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office was called. Southwest Airlines tells WWLTV, “Local authorities were contacted to remove a customer who was exhibiting disruptive and unacceptable behavior onboard,” which they have a zero-tolerance policy for.
JPSO deputies had to forcibly remove her. At that point, Fancher says other passengers became annoyed. According to JPSO, Gibson was escorted off the plane, but continued resisting on the jetway bridge. They tell WWLTV she became extremely combative, kicked two deputies, and bit a third on the leg.
The plane took off about an hour later. Gibson refused to comment when WWLTV reached out.
According to JPSO, she was booked with multiple counts including disturbing the peace, criminal mischief, battery on a police officer and more. She was released from custody on a $9,750 bond on May 30.
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