US woman who was duct-taped for violent behaviour on flight, faces record fine

A 34-year-old US woman was sued by the Federal Aviation Administration after she failed to pay a fine of $81,950 for assaulting co-passengers onboard a flight in 2021.

The woman, Heather Wells from San Antonio, was travelling on a first class ticket from Texas to Charlotte on July 7, 2021 on an American Airlines flight, The New York Times reported.

She allegedly kicked and spat at passengers and the flight crew and tried to open the main door of the flight, after which she was tied to her seat with duct tape.

The Federal Aviation Administration had imposed a fine of $81,950 on her, which is the highest ever fine levied by it.

According to the lawsuit accessed by The New York Times, the woman ordered a whisky during her flight and she started behaving violently after that.

She said that she “wanted out” of the plane and started running towards the rear end of the plane and began “talking incoherently to passengers, before crawling back toward the main cabin”.

When a flight attendant went to her, Wells told him that she would “hurt him” if he didn’t get out of her way. She pushed him and went to the front of the

She then pushed him and moved to the front of the plane and tried to open the front door, “all the while screaming and yelling profanities”, the lawsuit stated.

When two cabin crew and a passenger tried to stop her, she hit one of the attendants on the head multiple times. Wells was then tied to her seat with duct tapes and was gagged.

She still kept on acting violently and broke the seat in front of her, and she was sedated and removed from the plane in Charlotte.