'Blue-Eyed White Devils': Florida Man Arrested After Racist Rant on American Airlines Flight
Hiilsborough County Sheriff's Office; stock photo/Getty
An American Airlines passenger was arrested after launching a belligerent rant against fellow travelers, threatening to “take this plane down,” and using anti-semitic and anti-white profanity.
Shocking video captured by other passengers shows the moment Shail Patel, 29, was forced into a headlock and escorted off the plane after becoming violent with another man.
Shail Patel (Florida Man) pic.twitter.com/ivPi4PqBfl
— Tampa Free Press (@tampafreepress) March 23, 2024
The outburst occurred on Tuesday's American Airlines Flight 2506 from Tampa International Airport to Philadelphia, the Daily Mail reported.
Disturbing footage shows Patel blaming white people for making it “harder for me to get to my home country.”
He also could be heard yelling the anti-semetic slur “k**e” at a flight attendant, and according to an affidavit obtained by the New York Post allegedly said, “F*** you blue-eyed white devils I’m gonna take this plane down with all you mother f***ers on it.”
American Airlines passenger seen in viral video yelled about ‘blue-eyed white devils’ and threatened to ‘take this plane down’: affidavit https://t.co/qER78ZlD7R pic.twitter.com/JMkIKqHTH3
— New York Post (@nypost) March 22, 2024
Six off-duty police officers who happened to be on board aided in removing the man, who appeared to be drunk, from the plane.
The whole ordeal caused the flight to be delayed by 30 minutes. Patel, a Florida resident, was arrested and charged with two counts of battery and one count of disorderly conduct.
The unhinged man allegedly “began showing unhinged behavior as soon as he boarded the plane, screaming and cursing at passengers,” the Daily Mail reports.
The airline told the outlet in a statement:
Prior to departure of American Airlines flight 2506 with service from Tampa (TPA) to Philadelphia (PHL), law enforcement was requested to the aircraft due to a disturbance in the cabin involving a disruptive customer.
We thank our team for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.
Patel remains in the Hillsborough County Jail as of Friday on a $2,150 bond.
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