Law enforcement officials detained a man on the ground at LAX airport after video captured him punching a flight attendant in the back of the head midway through his American Airlines flight from San José del Cabo, Mexico on Wednesday.
The unruly passenger, identified as 33-year-old Alexander Tung Cuu Le of Westminster, California, was detained on suspicion of interfering with a flight crew member during his flight. The FBI has opened an investigation into the incident.
Another passenger aboard the flight, Donald Hoover, helped the flight crew restrain the attacker.
"A female flight attendant grabbed some restraints and her and I went back there and I just told him, 'We're going to put these on you.'" Hoover said. "And he just put his hands up and let us do it."
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American Airlines condemned the assault in a statement, saying that the flight from Mexico was "met by law enforcement upon arrival due to an unruly passenger who physically assaulted a flight attendant."
"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,” the statement continued.
