American Airlines staff duct tape a 13-year-old boy to his seat after he tried to kick out a window (Watch Video)

A 13-year-old boy was duct taped to his seat after he tried to kick out a window on an American Airlines flight from Maui to Los Angeles, CBSN Los Angeles reported.

Witnesses told the news station that the boy became physical towards his mother an hour into the flight, which was diverted to Honolulu.

In a video clip published by CBSN Los Angeles, airline staff can be seen duct taping the boy to his seat as passengers help to restrain him.

The flight took off from the Hawaiian island of Maui on Tuesday at 12:30p.m. local time and was scheduled to land in Los Angeles five hours later. Instead, it was diverted to Hawaii’s capital Honolulu.

The boy was taken into custody in Honolulu, CBSN Los Angeles reported, adding that no one was injured.

An American Airlines spokesperson said: “Customers were re-accommodated on other flights or provided hotel accommodations. Safety and security is our top priority and we apologize to our customers for any inconvenience this caused.”

The plane landed in Honolulu at 3:47 p.m. local time, the spokesperson said. The flight was diverted “due to an incident with a passenger on board,” the spokesperson said.

This isn’t the first time airline staff have resorted to strapping a passenger to their seat because of unruly behaviour.

Staff duct taped a male passenger to his seat on a Frontier Airlines flight to Miami in July. The man had punched a male flight attendant, inappropriately touched female crew members, screamed obscenities, and removed his shirt mid-flight.

Also in July, a TikTok video showed a woman duct taped to her seat on an American Airlines flight. She had tried to exit the plane mid-flight and attacked flight attendants, the airline said.

On Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration said it had investigated more than 600 reports of unruly passenger behavior in 2021 – nearly double the combined number of incidents in 2019 and 2020.

Source: Business Insider