Witness reacts to flight attendant attack
(CNN) - It was a normal passenger flight from Los Cabos to Los Angeles this week until an out-of-the-blue shocking moment on the plane.
The incident caught on video.
Tina Patel shows us what happened.
Passengers say it happened in a flash - a man on their flight back to Los Angeles ran up the aisle and sucker-punched a flight attendant in the back.
"First for me. I travel a lot. That's the first time I've seen something like this," Passenger Donald Hoover stated.
Donald Hoover was sitting in first class.
He said 20 minutes into the flight that man had walked up and tried to use the first class restroom.
When the flight attendant told him he couldn't, Hoover said he sat down in an empty seat across the aisle and started talking.
"I couldn't make out what he was saying. And I kept saying 'what, I can't hear you,' he's whispering. Now finally, I hear him and he says 'there's 10 killers on the plane,'" Hoover stated.
Hoover said flight attendants got the man back to his seat, but he didn't stay there.
"He wasn't intoxicated, I can tell you that. And he obviously just had some mental issues," Hoover stated.
"After the punch, the flight crew immediately took action - one moved a beverage cart to block access to the cockpit, another grabbed zip ties and duct tape. Hoover says he and another passenger helped with the restraints," said Reporter Tina Patel.
"I went back there and we told him 'we're going to put these things on you one way or another.' And he just stuck his hands up and we put them on without incident," Hoover stated.
When the plane landed in Los Angeles, Federal authorities came on and took the man into custody.
American Airlines released a statement that says in part, "Acts of violence against our team members are not tolerated by American Airlines. The individual involved in this incident will never be allowed to travel with us in the future, and we will work closely with law enforcement in their investigation."
Some passengers are wondering if something could have been done to prevent this situation - Hoover doesn't think so.
"Unless they see him visibly intoxicated or something that they don't let you on a plane ... not much you can do," Hoover stated.
Federal authorities say 33-year-old Alexander Tung Cuu Le is charged with one count of interference with flight crew members and attendants/
If convicted, Le would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
