An unhinged Florida man horrifically pummeled a sleeping passenger until the cabin was spattered with blood on a cross-country United Airlines flight this week, authorities said.
Everett Chad Nelson, 44, left his seat to go use the bathroom about two hours into United Airlines flight 2247 from San Francisco to Washington Dulles on Monday, according to a federal complaint obtained by The Independent.
Coming back, he stopped at seat 12F and “without notice, began physically attacking a sleeping male passenger by punching him repeatedly in the face and head until blood was drawn,” the complaint states.
The defenseless man began screaming as Nelson rained blows on him for a full minute while other horrified passengers watched on. Finally, a good Samaritan jumped in and ripped him off the victim, officials alleged.
Nelson split the man’s nose open causing blood to splash all over his seat, the cabin wall, the window and the sleeves of Nelson’s green windbreaker, the complaint claims. The victim was also left with two black eyes.
Nelson escaped unscathed and “there was no indication that [the alleged victim] struck him in defense,” the complaint says.
Flight attendants moved Nelson to a seat up front and put the same good Samaritan who got involved in charge of keeping watch over him until the plane landed.
The victim was treated for his injuries by a doctor who happened to be onboard, according to the complaint.
The complaint does not describe a motive and does not say whether the two men had any prior relationship before the attack, which seemingly came out of nowhere, The Independent reported.
There were 82 passengers and six crew members aboard the flight, United Airlines said.
The TSA contacted the FBI mid-flight and indicated there was a “Level 2 disturbance” onboard, which constitutes “physically abusive behavior,” according to the Federal Aviation Administration. That places the incident a step above “Level 1,” which is “disruptive behavior” but before “Level 3,” which is an “attempted or actual breach of the flight deck.”
“Thanks to the quick action of our crew and customers, one passenger was restrained after becoming physically aggressive toward another customer on a flight from San Francisco to Washington Dulles on Monday,” a United official told The Independent in a statement.
“The flight landed safely and was met by paramedics and local law enforcement.”
Nelson was charged with one count of assault by beating, striking, and wounding in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States.
He faces up to a year in prison if convicted.
The FAA reported 1,748 instances of unruly passengers so far in 2024, slowly approaching last year’s total of 20,76 according to the agency’s website.
That’s still significantly down from a peak of 5,973 unruly passenger incidents in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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