Everett Chad Nelson 44 year old Florida man arrested violently beating sleeping deaf and non verbal passenger on board United Airlines flight, leaving the victim bloodied and needing medical attention. No known motive.
Define flying etiquette? A Florida man is alleged to have ‘violently’ attacked a sleeping passenger on a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., on Monday (October 28).
According to the federal complaint, about two hours into flight 2247’s five-hour journey to Dulles International Airport, Everett Chad Nelson, 44, arose from seat 35F and went to the lavatory at the front of the plane. After leaving the restroom, he stopped at row 12 and began punching the sleeping male passenger in seat 12F for no apparent reason.
The man suffered bruising on his eyes and a gash on his nose, the complaint states. Nelson’s lime-green coat allegedly had blood all over its sleeves. Witnesses said they saw blood on the man’s seat and the plane window and walls.
The un-identifed victim was reported to be deaf and non verbal and left with two black eyes.
According to United, the plane carried 82 passengers and six crew members.
‘The assault on V-1 lasted approximately one minute,’ the criminal complaint states. ‘V-1 began screaming, and another passenger intervened and pulled the defendant off of V-1.’
The attack left passengers who witnessed the vicious beating aghast.
‘The next thing I know, I just hear these blood-curdling screams,’ Sandhya Gupta, who was sitting a row behind the victim, told ABC 7 News.
‘He was just very violently and very aggressively just pummeling the guy who was in the window seat who was in front of me and it was vicious. This wasn’t like a bar room, I’m going to throw a couple of punches around, I mean this was vicious,‘ the witness said.
It was then that Gupta says they learned that the victim couldn’t hear or speak.
‘When he was trying to communicate with us in sign language that’s when we realized he was deaf and non-verbal,’ she said.
Nelson rained blows on the defenseless man for a full minute, officials alleged. Finally, a good Samaritan jumped in and ripped him off the victim.
After Nelson was pulled off the man, the complaint says he was moved to a seat near the front of the plane and monitored by the passenger who intervened in the assault. At 12:26 p.m., the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was alerted about a Level 2 disturbance aboard the D.C.-bound flight.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lists four threat levels; Level 2 constitutes ‘physical abusive behavior.’
The suspect was arrested shortly after the plane landed at Washington’s Dulles airport.
The blood-soaked passenger was treated by a doctor aboard the flight, according to the complaint. ‘Nelson had no observable injuries, and there was no indication that V-1 struck him in defense,’ the complaint states.
Nelson has since been charged with felony assault and continues to remain in jail and now risks civil fines from the FAA of up to $37,000 per violation.
A United Airlines spokesperson released the following statement:
‘Thanks to the quick action of our crew and customers, one passenger was restrained after becoming physically aggressive toward another customer on a flight from San Francisco to Washington Dulles on Monday. The flight landed safely and was met by paramedics and local law enforcement.’
The rate of unruly passenger incidents has dropped by over 80% since record-highs in early 2021 following tightened flying regulations amid the then worldwide COVID19 crises. Nevertheless the FAA reports unacceptable behavior continues to occur. Airlines have reported more than 1,240 unruly passenger cases in 2024 the agency states.
Authorities have to date declined to say what led to Monday’s attack, with the FBI and FAA announcing they are now investigating the incident.