A Southwest Airlines flight from Houston to Phoenix was forced to return to the gate after a passenger stripped naked and began screaming before takeoff on Monday afternoon, March 3.
Video taken by a passenger shows the woman completely undressed, walking up and down the aisle while screaming.
The flight from Hobby Airport in Houston was delayed for over an hour, according to NBC affiliate KPNX in Phoenix.
The Houston Police Department said in a statement to NBC News on Thursday, March 6, that it received a call at 3:30 p.m. CT on Monday that “a passenger took off her clothes on a flight and was causing a disturbance.”
The woman was removed from the flight and transported to the NeuroPsychiatric Center at the Harris Health Ben Taub Hospital in Houston for medical evaluation, police said.
“There have been no charges filed, so her name was not released,” police said.
Southwest Airlines released a statement on Thursday saying that local law enforcement met Flight 733 after it returned to the gate due to a “Customer situation onboard.”
“Our Teams have reached out to Customers onboard the flight to apologize for the delay to their travels,” Southwest said.
Two anonymous passengers who live in Phoenix told KPNX that the aircraft had just started taxiing when the woman, still fully clothed, walked to the front of the plane and started yelling.
“It was very uncomfortable and really scary,” said one passenger.
“I do remember her saying that she wanted to get off the flight,” another passenger said.
That same passenger said the woman yelled that she was bipolar and began hitting parts of the plane.
“She started, like, jumping up and down, screaming at the top of her lungs,” they said.
Some flyers were shocked to find that charges were not being filed against the woman.
“Considering that she got naked in front of a bunch of kids and anyone else,” a passenger said.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
