DETROIT – A Macomb County woman said she was in shock when a fight broke out as she was flying back home Thursday.
She and her children returned home from a family commitment in Los Angeles, but that wasn’t the worst part of the trip -- a large brawl broke out on board.
“We were in shock, really. We couldn’t believe it was happening,” she said. "It was really scary. I had my kids with me and everybody was like, ‘Oh my God.’”
What started as an argument between passengers, she said, turned into an assault. A passenger said other passengers were being too loud when he was trying to sleep and he was beaten bloody.
She said passengers were urging Spirit employees to help.
“'Everyone was like, ‘Why aren’t you doing anything?’ They were like, ‘We don’t get paid enough to deal with this,’” she recalled.
The pilots made an emergency landing in Des Moines, Iowa for two hours.
She said the culprits changed out of their bloody clothes when the plane landed.
“'They went and changed their clothes before the Marshalls came," she said. "They hurried up and ran to the bathroom because they had blood all over their clothes and they didn’t want to be recognized.”
Passengers were shocked that the people involved were allowed to come back onto the flight. Police said they didn’t have jurisdiction to arrest anyone.
The Macomb County woman said she was shocked that the flight was packed after Spirit told her they would distance passengers due to coronovirus concerns.
“They didn’t clean the blood," she said. "Sat there for two hours, everyone sucking everyone’s coronavirus.”
She said she is planning to self quarantine and get tested as soon as possible. Spirit did refund her.
Local 4 reached out to Spirit about what took place on the flight, but the company has not yet responded.