11-Year-Old Boy Restrained on Flight After Becoming Physical With Mother

Flight attendants on a flight from Maui to Los Angeles were forced to restrain an 11-year-old boy on Tuesday after he became disruptive. The youth allegedly became physical with his own mother, and the crew placed flex cuffs on him.

CBS Los Angeles reported that witnesses saw the boy acting in an unruly manner during the American Airlines flight, which resulted in the other passengers holding the boy as attendants restrained him to his seat.

CBS Los Angeles posted a link on Twitter to its story about the incident that contains a video of the incident shot by a passenger. In the short clip, passengers can be seen helping an attendant, who is seen trying to use duct tape to secure the boy to his seat.

The duct tape, however, was ultimately not used in favor of flex cuffs the crew had.

After the boy was restrained, his 13-year-old brother also became disruptive and reportedly tried to kick out the window next to his seat. The older brother was said to have calmed down without the need for restraint.

The flight was diverted to Honolulu, and no one was said to be injured during the disturbance.

On Wednesday, American Airlines provided the following statement to Newsweek:

"Flight 212 with service from Kahului Airport, Maui (OGG) to Los Angeles (LAX) diverted to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu (HNL) due to a customer-related incident yesterday. After landing at HNL at 3:47 p.m. (local time), 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 episode follows a couple of other recent incidents in which flight attendants resorted to taping passengers to their seats.

On a Miami-bound flight on Frontier Airlines on July 31, Maxwell Berry was duct-taped to his seat after he allegedly groped and physically struck flight attendants.

A police report from the Miami-Dade Police Department alleged that Berry, 22, was intoxicated when he brushed a cup against the backside of a flight attendant.

After spilling another drink on his shirt, he went to the bathroom and emerged moments later without a shirt on. When a flight attendant tried to help him retrieve another shirt from his carry-on bag, Berry allegedly groped the chests of other flight attendants.

He next allegedly punched a male flight attendant in the face, which led to him being restrained using duct tape.

Upon landing in Miami, Berry was arrested on three counts of battery. Frontier Airlines later announced the attendants would not be disciplined for their actions in the matter.

Weeks before that, a woman on a July 6 American Airlines flight from Dallas-Forth Worth to Charlotte, North Carolina, was also duct-taped to her seat after she allegedly tried to open the door of the aircraft mid-flight and then attacked the crew.

American Airlines released a statement regarding the July 6 incident, which stated the female passenger "attempted to open the forward boarding door and physically assaulted, bit, and caused injury to a flight attendant."

Update 08/11/21 11:20 a.m. EDT: This story has been updated to include the most recent information available regarding the August 10 incident on American Airlines. Early reports falsely stated it was a 13-year-old who was restrained using duct tape aboard the flight. Now it is known that it was his 11-year-old brother who was restrained using flex cuffs. The 13-year-old boy reportedly kicked the window but was not restrained.