NEW YORK – Three women are facing charges in the United States after they allegedly attacked a security guard who was trying to stop them from boarding a flight at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport in September because of what prosecutors consider problematic behavior, including a refusal to wear a mask properly.
The three women were released on $25,000 bail each after being arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn on Thursday. Messages were sent Friday morning to their lawyers.
Prosecutors said in court papers that the women attempted to board a Delta Air Lines flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico on September 22. They had ordered a total of about nine alcoholic drinks in four hours from airport bars while waiting for a departure, which had been delayed, prosecutors said.
When the three arrived at the gate, the crew decided they shouldn’t be allowed on the plane because they were acting belligerently, one was not wearing her mask like the requires federal regulations, and another appeared disoriented and had difficulty walking, prosecutors said.
A Delta security guard and boarding agent approached the women and asked them to leave, saying they could catch a flight later today, according to court documents from prosecutors.
They said the women refused, one hit the security guard in the head with her two-way radio, another hit the gate attendant in the face when he tried to intervene, and that the third had stepped on the security guard’s face after he fell to the ground. The crew eventually pulled the officer behind doors and held them closed while the women went after the crew, prosecutors say.
The gate attendant and security guard were taken to hospital and did not return to work.
“The extreme and aggressive behavior related to air travel is out of control,” Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.
Airlines reported more than 5,000 episodes involving unruly passengers last year, including more than 3,600 cases of people allegedly refusing to wear a mask as required.
Airlines and their worker unions have pushed authorities to be more aggressive in pursuing criminal prosecutions of serious air rage cases.