Passenger Who Knocked Flight Attendant’s Teeth Out After Being Asked To Put Seatbelt On Claims Self-Defense

For anyone who’s ever flown before, you’re probably well aware of the safety procedures in place. Staying seated with your seatbelt fastened during take-off and landing and whenever the seatbelt light is on during the flight is probably the most basic rule, but with the COVID-19 pandemic, there are additional measures passengers need to follow to make sure things runs smoothly. However, one passenger on a Southwest Airlines flight from Sacramento to San Diego apparently couldn’t handle it and became violent with a flight attendant, knocking out the employee’s front teeth.

  1. Things turned physically quickly. Vyvianna Quinonez, 28, is said to have become angry after a flight attendant asked her to comply with safety regulations, starting a verbal altercation that quickly turned physical. Quinonez was overheard telling the flight attendant not to touch her before she punched the employee in the face, knocking out two of her teeth.
  2. Quinonez was extremely unruly. According to Chris Mainz, the spokesperson for Southwest Airlines, Quinonez “repeatedly ignored standard inflight instructions and became verbally and physically abusive upon landing.” However, not everyone is taking the flight attendant’s side.
  3. Some people believe the flight attendant started the altercation. As Fox40 reported, the problems began when the employee asked Quinonez and her family to put their face masks back on. However, another flier said that the flight attendant was the one at fault. “It was so unnecessary. In the first altercation, she had said that she was going to call the captain,” said passenger Michelle Manner, who sat two rows in front of them. And she should’ve just stayed there in her back cubby, but she came back out screaming at them again.” She then began videotaping the entire ordeal.
  4. Was the flight attendant actually aggressive? “Vyvianna had said to her three times, that we could hear, ‘Get off of me. Quit touching me. Get your hands off of me,'” Manner recalled. “The flight attendant continued to yell. And I mean she was yelling. We got to the point to, where we’re like, should we start videoing this? She was very unprofessional. Very rude, about the way she handled anything.”
  5. Quinonez was arrested on suspicion of battery causing serious injury. However, she was later released from jail on $35,000 bond, according to CBS8. She claims she acted in self-defense and offered no further comment.
Jennifer Still is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience. The managing editor of Bolde, she has bylines in Vanity Fair, Business Insider, The New York Times, Glamour, Bon Appetit, and many more. You can follow her on Twitter @jenniferlstill
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