TikTok video shows woman on American Airlines plane duct-taped to her seat. The airline says she tried to open the door midflight.

  • A viral TikTok video shows a woman duct-taped to her chair on an American Airlines flight.

  • The airline said the woman tried to exit the plane midflight and attacked flight attendants.

  • The passenger who filmed the video criticized American Airlines for how it handled the situation.

  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

A TikTok video shows a woman duct-taped to her seat on an American Airlines flight after an incident in which the airline says she attacked flight attendants and attempted to open the plane's front door.

The video was filmed on American Airlines Flight 1774, which was traveling from Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, to Charlotte, North Carolina, on Tuesday.

In the video, filmed by the TikTok user @lol.ariee, an unidentified woman in first class can be seen with duct tape around her chest and mouth as she attempts to scream at passengers who are departing the plane after it landed.

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In a follow-up video, @lol.ariee said the commotion started one hour into the two-hour flight when "all flight attendants were running up and down the aisles, frantically kind of like whispering to each other."

The crew began locking bathrooms and started grabbing bags from overhead bins but wouldn't say what exactly was happening, @lol.ariee said.

"It was just kind of like chaos and no one knows what's going on," the TikTok user continued.

The pilot eventually spoke over the intercom and asked people to stay in their seats because of "a bad situation in the plane" but did not elaborate, according to @lol.ariee.

As the plane was landing, a flight attendant who sat near the passengers said a woman "had an outburst" and attempted to get off the plane.

"She was saying, 'I need to get off this plane,' and she went up to the exits and started banging on the doors, saying, 'You need to let me off this plane!'" @lol.ariee said.

The woman apparently started biting, spitting, and attacking flight attendants, @lol.ariee said, prompting the crew to "take her down" and duct-tape her mouth.

The video, which has been viewed more than 4 million times, shows a police officer and medical personnel waiting by the plane's entrance as other passengers depart the cabin upon landing.

Watch the full clip below:

An American Airlines representative told Insider in an emailed statement that the woman "attempted to open the forward boarding door and physically assaulted, bit, and caused injury to a flight attendant."

"We applaud our crew for their professionalism and quick effort to protect those on board," the person added.

The TikTok user @lol.ariee said in the follow-up video that the incident seemed to be "handled poorly."

Since January, the Federal Aviation Administration has received 2,500 reports of unruly behavior by passengers, most of which involve travelers refusing to comply with the federal mask mandate.

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