Passengers on a Chicago-bound flight from Texas say they were startled by an attendant's unexpected and almost incoherent rant over the plane's speaker system.
The woman triggered a security scare aboard the American Airlines flight in Dallas on Friday, when she started screaming over the airplane's intercom, ordering the pilot to turn the aircraft around.
"She said ‘I'm not responsible for this plane crashing.' That really upset everyone on the plane," recalled passenger Bethany Christakos.
At the time, the plane was taxiing onto the runway, preparing for takeoff.
That's when passengers say the errant attendant picked up a microphone and started ranting about a potential crash, the airline filing for bankruptcy reorganization and a friend who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, among other topics.
Passengers recall the woman mentioning over the speaker that she had forgotten to take medication for an undisclosed disorder.
Amateur video captured footage of crew and passengers trying to hold the woman down as she wailed over the loudspeaker.
"They literally sat on her until we got back to the gate," Christakos told CTV News.
Two flight attendants were reportedly injured during the tussle. It's unclear what kind of injuries the attendants sustained.
Passenger Steve Termunde said there were about five people restraining the attendant as the plane returned to the gate, where police were waiting to take her into custody.
Police took the still-screaming woman away in handcuffs. Reports indicate she was eventually transported to hospital for a psychiatric assessment.
"I will never get that sound of her screaming out of my head," said. Christakos. "Had she done this in the air, it would have been a whole different story."
For its part, American Airlines has said the passengers were never in any real danger.
With a report from CTV News' Washington Bureau Chief Paul Workman
