AmericanAir close call is most dangerous situation in aviation in years and NTSB had to subpoena crew for the investigation.
American Airlines pilots were distracted by paperwork when they became disoriented and created a runway incursion. The incursion happened as a Delta flight was about to take off for the Dominican Republic.
New details of the close call the night of January 13, 2023 are contained in National Transportation Safety Board documents. They were released Monday.
A lawsuit later in the year alleges a flight crew member hidden camera was taking upskirt photos of a minor passenger.
The NTSB is also assisting in the investigation of a plane stolen from Addison Airport last week. That plane’s pilot appears to have committed suicide.
Other Side Dallas will continue to provide updates on these and other breaking Dallas news stories.
Keith Fagiana arrested in Amarillo after reportedly assaulting a flight crew member with Dallas area corporation, American Airlines.
The flight was en route to Bozeman, Montana from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The American Airlines aircraft landed in Amarillo at about 1 p.m. after the crew reported a “passenger disturbance.”
Fagiana was taken into custody by the FBI at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport. Fagiana is charged with interference with a flight crew.
Federal Aviation Administration, Keith Edward Fagiana assaulted a male flight attendant shortly after the flight departed.
Keith Fagiana Arrested – Alcohol A Factor?
Fagiana reportedly punched a flight crew member three or four times leading to the flight’s diversion.
According to a criminal complaint Fagiana “kicked an airport police officer in the groin.” It also states he “spit on other officers.”
Fagiana admits to drinking Captain Morgan rum at different bars in Las Vegas before the flight.
Other Side Dallas is your source for Dallas local breaking news as well as business, crime. and community features in 2024.
“American Airlines flight 1441 from Charlotte (CLT) to Boston (BOS) was met by law enforcement upon arrival. We take this matter very seriously and are fully cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation, as safety and security are our highest priorities,” the statement said.
AmericanAir Hidden Camera Update
An American Airlines hidden camera was found on a flight this week leading to a flight crew member being escorted off the aircraft.
A flight crew member stopped a teenage girl from entering the bathroom, saying he needed to wash his hands. She used the bathroom after him per Boston area news.
The Airbus A321 landed at Boston Logan International Airport and the camera was found. The male crew member was then escorted off the plane.
AmericanAir hidden camera updates will be posted here as we get them,
An American Airlines hidden camera was found on a flight this week leading to a flight crew member being escorted off the aircraft.
A “potential criminal act” occurred onboard an American Airlines flight involving a “juvenile, a flight attendant, and a cell phone.”
The air carrier is not responding to our phone calls. We do know federal investigators are involved in this incident which took place this week.
A local news station reported a concerned a passenger stated there was a hidden camera inside one of the plane’s bathroom.
A flight crew member stopped a teenage girl from entering the bathroom, saying he needed to wash his hands. She used the bathroom after him per Boston area news.
The Airbus A321 landed at Boston Logan International Airport and the camera was found. The male crew member was then escorted off the plane.
American Airlines Hidden Camera
American Airlines also received notoriety for Dallas resident Tiffany Gomas’ tirade earlier this summer.
American unprepared for emergencies in the air per a new lawsuit alleging the airline did not have properly functioning equipment.
The lawsuit alleges American Airlines did not have a properly functioning automated defibrillator on board in 2022 when a teen died.
Kevin Greenidge was on flight AA614 on June 4, 2022 when he became unconscious and went into cardiac arrest. Crew members tried to administer a shock from the automatic external defibrillator, but its battery was not functioning per the lawsuit.
Melissa Arzu, Greenidge’s mother, says his death was a result of carelessness and gross negligence by the airline. She cited the uncharged mobile battery pack and lac of employee training in resuscitation.
Federal law requires airlines to have medical equipment such as defibrillators on board. The law also required flight crew to be trained in the use the equipment.
Arzu’s complaint states Greenidge sustained several injuries prior to his death. Had he survived, the complaint reads he would have been entitled to actual and punitive damages.
More than 350,000 people die of sudden cardiac arrest in the United States every year per the 9-11 Foundation.
Survival rates are as high as seventy percent when they are defibrillated within the first three minutes.
Multiple Reports: American Unprepared For Emergencies
American Airlines is having a challenging legal year.
An American jet hit a bus on the tarmac of Los Angeles International Airport earlier this year. Crews initially refused to speak to investigators.
American Airlines jet crashed into a bus early this morning at Los Angeles International Airport. The jet was being towed when it struck a passenger bus injuring five people.
The collision happened near 10:00 PM Pacific time when the American Airlines’Airbus A321 plane was towed from a gate. A bus was transporting passengers between terminals and the two vehicles collided.
In a statement, Los Angeles World Airports said, “The aircraft that was being towed from a gate to a remote parking location made physical contact with a bus traveling on the south side of the LAX airfield.”
Los Angeles World Airports is the governing body for Los Angeles International Airport.
American Airlines Jet Crashed – One Of Many Near Aviation Issues
The accident happened on the south side of the airport. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
American Airlines operations continued otherwise.
Other Side Dallas will update this story as information becomes available.
A new lawsuit says American Airlines jails wrong man and the details are shocking. Worse, another criminal is still out on the loose.
The lawsuit alleges Michael Lowe was arrested in New Mexico during a celebration with friends. Local police were called to investigate a disturbance and ended up arresting Lowe not for the party, but an outstanding warrant from Tarrant County, Texas.
“Mr. Lowe’s confusion was profound – he did not know where Tarrant County, Texas was and could not even remember the last time he was in the state,” the lawsuit, filed Monday, says. Tarrant County, located west of Dallas, includes the cities of Fort Worth and Arlington.
Lowe said he was not informed for seventeen days the nature of his arrest. He called those seventeen days and nights at the Quay County Detention Center “excruciating.” His only connection to Tarrant County was on a layover flight through Dallas/Forth Worth International Airport.
Now, Lowe is suing American Airlines, saying negligence by American and its employees leds to his improper arrest.
Dallas Fort Worth Airport Incident
In May 2020, a burglar broke into a duty-free store at Dallas Fort Worth airport. Surveillance cameras show the suspect boarding American Airlines flight 2248 (AA2248).
Lowe was on the flight, AA2248, to Reno, Nevada, but denied burglarizing the duty-free store.
Surveillance photos show a suspect wearing different clothing and a different hairstyle.
Airport police asked American Airlines for a passenger manifest for AA2248. The airline provided only one suspect: Michael Lowe.
Lowe Lawsuit
“American Airlines could have provided its entire manifest for the flight or a list of all individuals who matched a certain description (ex: all white males over eighteen and under 65). American Airlines also could have performed an adequate search to identify the correct suspect and provide his information to law enforcement. Instead, American Airlines affirmatively and wrongfully identified Mr. Lowe as the single suspect of the DFW Airport PD’s felony investigation which foreseeably led to Mr. Lowe being arrested and imprisoned for a crime he was innocent of,” the lawsuit reads in part.
Lowe’s court filing he describes the threat of violence from other incarcerated persons. His suit also allegees risk of catching COVID19. This was due to crowded cell conditions at the New Mexico detention facility.
After seventeen days, a guard told him he was being released.
“Sometime after Mr. Lowe’s release from jail, Detective Torres obtained Mr. Lowe’s mug shot from Quay County and compared it to the photos of the culprit; it was obvious that American Airlines had the wrong person,” per Lowe’s lawsuit.
The charges were dismissed, but the lawsuit describes Lowe as a “changed man.”
Scott Palmer, Lowe’s attorney, told local media he places the blame on the airline. “I blame American,” he said. “Without American doing what they did, (the detective) never would have issued a warrant. It all starts with the disclosure of his name and his name only.”
Lowe is seeking damages for the emotional distress of wrongful arrest, as well as his lost wages and income as a result of his detainment.
American Airlines Jails Wrong Man – Not Only Incident
The lawsuit comes as American Airlines is hit by American Idol start Kacey Musgraves with a complaint of appalling behavior by a male flight crew member.
American Airlines staff would not comment for Other Side Dallas.
Musgraves went on to say she witnessed “his extremely overblown, unnecessary aggression and erratic behavior.”
“He made me feel unsafe and upset to the point of crying and I witnessed another passenger he also made cry,” Musgraves wrote. “The female flight attendants on board vocalized their own disbelief, and struggles with him as well.”
Reaction Appalling American Airlines
American Airlines would not confirm to Other Side Dallas any details of the investigation into the allegations, or whether any actions had been taken against the accused employee.
American Airlines had a drunk first officer call out from a flight to Texas per allegations by multiple passengers.
The passengers state that flight crew on board the New York to Texas flight, number 2813, stated no one could locate the First Officer, but that he had been drinking the night before.
Per Curtis Blessing with American, “We have no reports that intoxication of any team members played a role in this flight being delayed.”
In follow up emails, American Airlines called the situation a routine call out and denied the allegations. They have previously dealt with drunk crew members harshly.
Drunk First Officer One Of Many Problems
This summer has been a hard one for the airlines and American has shared in those problems. Earlier this summer, there was a fist fight between passengers and more recently in October a flight crew member was assaulted by a passenger.
These incidents are on top of ping pong mask mandate standards that are bouncing between the federal government and Texas, where Governor Abbott has opposed mask mandates.
An American Airlines flight attendant assaulted on a flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on its way to John Wayne Airport in Orange County was punched twice, forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing in Denver.
A photo tweeted by a passenger shows the man who was arrested sitting inside the terminal at the airport in Denver. He is seen handcuffed and wearing a mask.
“We are outraged by the reports of what took place on board. Acts of violence against our team members are not tolerated by American Airlines. We are working with law enforcement to support our team member and pursue prosecution, and the individual involved in this incident will not be allowed to travel with us in the future,” American Airlines said in a statement.
“If you’re not prepared to wear a mask, you’re not prepared to fly, that’s the moral of the story,” said Mackenzie Rose, a passenger on the flight who tweeted the detainment photo.
American Airlines Flight Attendant Assaulted – Mask Issues Continue
American Airlines has said it will abide by the federal requirement for passengers to wear masks over ruling Governor Abbott’s executive order prohibiting private mandates.
The issue is spilling over into other areas of life here in Dallas though.
Two weeks ago the owners of the Gents Place salon organized a child abuse at protest at Dealey Montessori arguing their children were being abused by Principal Beth Wing for the Dallas ISD mask mandate.
Those actions have led Dallas ISD to keep speakers off tonight’s Board of Trustees agenda.
