Six black passengers booted from Spirit Airlines, claims of racial discrimination

Six passengers who were booted from a Spirit Airlines flight at Los Angeles International Airport claimed racial discrimination, saying a white flight attendant had them ejected because they are black.

The incident took place Monday evening on board Spirit Airlines Flight 868 from Los Angeles to Dallas.

According to witness accounts, three black couples were escorted off the aircraft prior to departure by police officers after a flight attendant accused one person in the group of being a threat.

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Cellphone video recorded by Alexandria Wright, who was among the passengers kicked out, shows the man being removed from the plane telling responding officers the flight attendant was rude to him.

According to witnesses, it all started with a dispute over a seat, which the African-American couples claimed was double-booked by the airline.

Ty Walker, who was also among the travelers ejected from the flight, told CBS Los Angeles the man in the cell phone video was told by the white flight attendant that he must switch seats.

According to Walker, the man was ready to comply when the stewardess made a remark to him, prompting the passenger to say in reply something along the lines: ‘I’m not talking to you, don’t talk to me.’

Walker said the flight attendant then summoned police on board and had the man escorted off the flight.

When the other African-American passengers spoke out in the man’s defense and questioned his ejection from the plane, police officers were called back and booted the others off the aircraft as well.

‘I’m really humiliated just for the simple fact that you hear about this type of stuff happening in America, discrimination issues and stuff like that, but to actually experience it first-hand,’ said Alexandria Wright.

Spirit Airlines later released a statement calling the banished passengers ‘unruly’ and claiming they were causing trouble with their fellow travelers.

‘Flight crew asked them to stop. When they did not, law enforcement was called and they were removed from the flight,’ the statement read.

The flight took off from LAX at 8pm without the six black passengers on board.

When the plane touched down in Dallas, some people who were on board the jetliner told reporters the booted travelers were being disruptive.

Source: The DailyMail