‘He did not try. He did’: United Airlines passenger causes alarm during flight when he tries to destroy his plane seat (and succeeds)

Sometimes we get so pent up that we need to kick something. Most people, though, would probably lash out at an unfairly singled-out piece of furniture in private. A lone kick (at tops three to five) would get whatever’s got your goat out of your system. One irregularly angry United Airlines passenger is not most people, however, as discovered by those on his flight when he decided to go to town on his plane seat.

In a bizarre video that’s going viral, one unknown man on a United flight from Austin, Texas to Los Angeles, California is shown kicking the stuffing out of his seat while… literally nothing happens around him. Despite the man treating the unsuspecting seat like it’s Mike Tyson and he’s Jake Paul for about half a minute, neither flight staff nor any other passengers attempt to intervene. The other curious thing is that the man goes about his task in pure silence, rather than letting out any cries of rage or frustration.

“Context would be nice,” wrote one curious commenter on the Daily Mail Australia TikTok account’s repost of the video, but alas nobody has any context to give. It’s unknown why the man beat his chair to death like this, although judging by its ferocity, it either slept with his wife or stole his much-needed promotion at work.

Most other commenters are naturally concerned by how long this man was able to go on the attack without anyone intervening. “How the hell did he kick that seat for so long without someone coming to get him off that plane?” asked one, saying what we’re all thinking. Even those who are no fan of this airline are finding themselves on United’s side for once: “United airline trash but this guy did so wrong.”

Others, meanwhile, can’t help but admire the man’s dedication to finishing what he started. In response to the Mail’s caption, which describes the “bizarre moment a United Airlines passenger tries to destroy a plane seat,” one commenter did their best Yoda impression and wrote “He did not try. He did.”

TMZ has further details of the incident, that occurred on Nov. 16, which reveals the unorthodox way this man was finally apprehended after his bout of domestic airborne violence. The site notes that Gino Galofaro, who filmed the above video, ultimately teamed up with two other passengers to restrain the aggressive individual. While Galofaro managed to get the man away from the seat, his two cohorts fetched some zip ties and the three of them succeeded in getting the better of him.

Galofaro was unable to provide an explanation for why the flight attendants didn’t do anything to aid them, but he did note that when the flight pulled into L.A. 40 minutes later the police were waiting at the gate to escort the man away. Kudos to Galofaro and his friends for dealing with the situation themselves, but this is yet another reason why so many passengers are united in their bad experiences flying with United.