Southwest Airline fight @ Burbank Airport pic.twitter.com/FvQcgExKyR
— Nick Krause (@nickkrause08) May 7, 2017
According to the Burbank police report on the incident, 37-year-old Chaze Mickalo Cable whipped around and said the woman sitting behind him was "messing with his chair." As the plane landed and the passengers began to disembark, the victim (whose name was not released to the public) went to help the woman out of her seat. At this point, Cable sucker punched him.
A fight broke out between the passengers, and a flight attendant tried in vain to break them up. Soon the scrum took to the floor as the flight attendant lost her balance, taking Cable and the victim down with her.
Cable ended up the better of the exchange, raining punches down on the victim until another passenger separated the gladiators.
Cable was arrested in Burbank on suspicion of battery and is being held on $50,000 bail. The victim suffered a contusion and swelling of his left eye, a cut on his nose and a chipped tooth.
Michael Krause, the passenger who filmed the fight on his phone, says he did not intervene due to his broken hand. He also described the scene as one of "total chaos," and praised the flight attendant as a "hero" for getting between the two men.
Southwest Airlines issued a statement to a similar effect. "We're grateful to our employees who quickly reacted to break up a fight involving three customers," a spokeswoman for the discount airline said.
"Our employees are our everyday heroes and are trained to de-escalate conflict while delivering heartfelt hospitality on nearly 4,000 flights to nearly the half-million customers who fly Southwest every day."
