Video: American Airlines Duct-Tapes Woman to Seat During Mental Health Episode
A woman suffering a mental health episode during a flight was duct-taped to her seat to prevent passengers and flight staff from being injured after she reportedly "assaulted, bit and caused injury to a flight attendant," as well as "attempted to open the forward boarding door," according to officials with American Airlines.
A video circulating the internet shows passengers exiting the flight and pans over to the woman screaming and writhing in her chair, held there by duct tape. The daughter of a passenger sitting in front of the woman on the flight tells what she knows about the incident, and also says that the woman's hands were zip-tied and that duct tape was placed over her mouth.
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The woman was eventually sedated and taken off of the airplane on a stretcher, where she will hopefully get the medical attention that she needs.
Duct-taping someone to their seat, zip-tying their hands and placing duct tape over their mouth during a mental health episode doesn't quite sound like the best idea, and it begs one to question whether or not this situation could have been handled in a different manner. It's also worth remembering that she was endangering the lives of countless others in her attempt to open the exit door, as well as being incredibly violent. Perhaps they did the best they could with what they had available to them.
Do you think this situation was handled appropriately? What else could have been done? Is it okay to tape someone's mouth shut? What if they can't breathe well through their nose? Comment below if you think you might have insight on a better way to handle this situation.