Oct. 31 (UPI) — A man on a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Washington Dulles International Airport is facing an assault charge after an unprovoked attack on a sleeping passenger.
The FBI and Federal Aviation Administration are both investigating after the minute-long attack earlier in the week left a non-verbal male passenger bloodied and with black eyes.
Witnesses on the flight say Everett Chad Nelson initially got up to use the lavatory onboard United Airlines flight 2247 Monday and then “without notice, began physically attacking a sleeping male passenger by punching him repeatedly in the face and head until blood was drawn,” according to court documents.
Nelson reportedly hit the man repeatedly for a full minute before another passenger intervened and restrained the 44-year-old.
“The next thing I know, I just hear the these blood-curdling screams,” passenger Sandhya Gupta told KABC TV.
A doctor on the flight treated the non-verbal injured passenger, who was able to communicate with the flight crew using text messages.
The attack occurred slightly more than two hours into the flight.
Everett later said the passenger had previously attacked him on the street, but the man denied ever having seen him before.
“The flight landed safely and was met by paramedics and local law enforcement,” United Airlines said in a 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,” an airline spokesperson told the New York Post.
Everett was moved to a seat at the front of the aircraft and kept under watch. He was arrested upon arrival and charged with one count of assault by beating.