Passengers Suing Spirit Airlines Over In-Flight Brawl Sparked By Boombox Image courtesy of airlines470
Three passengers who were aboard a Spirit Airlines flight when a brawl broke out over an overly loud boombox are now suing the carrier, claiming that Spirit “failed to protect” them from harm.
Some of the women who were involved in the kerfuffle last month sued Spirit on Thursday, claiming flight attendants added fuel to the drunken fire by providing rowdy passengers with excessive amounts of alcohol, and failing to protect them from injury, reports the New York Daily News.
“I am upset that Spirit Airlines failed to protect us, disregarded our safety, and instead continued to serve the women in front of us alcoholic beverages even though they were clearly intoxicated and behaving aggressively,” one passenger and plaintiff said in statement on Thursday.
She and her friends and fellow plaintiffs say they were on the flight from Baltimore to Los Angeles for a vacation, when three other female passengers near them got drunk during the flight. The other women were blasting music from a portable speaker for hours, singing along loudly and dancing in the cabin, the plaintiffs’ lawyer Gloria Allred said at a press conference.
When they were asked several hours into the flight to turn down the music, the rowdy passengers complied, but then blasted the music even louder, the plaintiffs claim.
A flight attendant who had allegedly danced to the women’s music earlier in the flight provided them with additional rounds of boozy beverages before landing, despite their behavior, the plaintiffs say.
The plaintiffs claim that the drunk women allegedly shouted offensive and racist remarks, and initiated the brawl.
They’re suing for unspecified damages. Spirit Airlines has denied the allegations, CBS Los Angeles reports.
Spirit Airlines passengers battered in fight sue the carrier for continuing to serve alcohol to assailants, failure to protect them [New York Daily News]
Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.