Passenger spits and slaps stewardess over elbow room on flight

An American woman recorded her husband's violent interaction with the cabin crew onboard a Brussels Airlines flight. The altercation was initiated when the man's mother-in-law complained about not having elbow space. When the unnamed man complained about it, he was not pleased with the response from the cabin crew. Claiming that a flight attendant hit her husband, the wife starts filming the incident. In the video, however, the man can be seen aggressively shouting at a female cabin crew member before hitting her.

The short video of the man verbally and physically attacking the cabin crew member was posted online. The video was recorded by the wife of the man who struck a cabin crew member. The recording shows the man getting out of his seat and blocking the path of a flight attendant who reportedly had struck him.

While blocking the male flight attendant, the man is seen to be approached by a senior member of the crew. The woman wearing a red uniform first tries to calm the man down. When the man fails to calm down, she tells him that he could get into trouble for his behaviour. The woman is seen wiping spit off of her face. It is unclear if the man spat on the woman's face intentionally or unintentionally.

The agitated stewardess slapped the man and was struck back hard. The woman is seen nearly stunned off of her feet by the man's blow. Other passengers who had been witnessing the argument jumped in to restrain the man.

In the Facebook video, the incident is followed by a video of the man talking to the camera in the aircraft's toilet. He says that he had complained to a male flight attendant about his mother being in discomfort. The man claimed that the flight attendant hit him. He then stated that he tried to explain the incident to the senior flight attendant who kept pushing him. According to him, the woman hit him without any provocation so he hit her back. He also claimed that fellow passengers jumped on him and broke his ribs.

The Sun reported that a woman named Carmen Moore posted the video on social media. The post explained that the man's mother-in-law was seated between two men who had continuously elbowed her. It also shared that the man had suffered broken ribs and was refused medical attention.

The airline has not commented on the incident.