FORT LAUDERDALE-HOLLYWOOD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) - Three passengers got into a fight at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport when some travelers’ refusal to wear face masks got them kicked off a plane, leading to a flight delay.
Cellphone video captured the women involved in the scuffle, as they exchanged blows at FLL’s American Airlines terminal, Wednesday.
Moments after the brawl broke out, a Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy is seen pulling one of the women away as another lay on the floor.
BSO investigators said the passengers were forced off a flight to Chicago for not following the mask mandate.
When deputies escorted the women back to the terminal, officials said, they were met with boos from frustrated passengers waiting at the gate.
At some point, authorities said, words were exchanged, and the fight broke out.
The footage shows the women punching each other and pulling hair.
One traveler who identified himself as Paul was shocked after watching the cellphone video.
“Fighting for what? What are you fighting over?” he said, “and they’re total strangers. These people didn’t know each other before? I don’t understand.”
A similar incident took place at Miami International Airport after two women got into a fistfight with federal agents who were removing them from a plane at the airport. Investigators said one of the suspects threatened an officer with a weapon.
Both women appeared in bond court Thursday afternoon. They were charged with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer with violence.
“Has a claim that she has a knife in her purse, was spitting in the face of several agents,” said Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mindy S. Glazer during one of the bond hearings.
“The co-defendant punched the agent,” said Glazer during the hearing for the second suspect.
“What?! Is you serious?” replied the suspect.
No arrests were made as a result of the fight at FLL, however.
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