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Narjas Zatat
Apr 29, 2018

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Amber J Phillips/Twitter screengrab
A woman has claimed that an American Airline employee called the police on her for “flying fat and black”.
Writer Amber J Phillips had been commuting on an American Airline flight from North Carolina to Washington – a 45 minute flight.
The plane, she told BuzzFeed News, was small, but a white woman who was sat next to her made an “active scene because my arm was touching hers”.
She shared her experiences on Twitter.
I'm tired but in the morning, I'll tell you all how a white woman @AmericanAir flight attendant called the cops on… https://t.co/VPKad786yS— Amber J. Phillips (@Amber J. Phillips) 1524802593
This was my view tonight because I made a white woman uncomfortable and held her accountable by AT LEAST making sur… https://t.co/ubf6nRs1gy— Amber J. Phillips (@Amber J. Phillips) 1524803030
This white woman literally spent the entire 45 minute flight making an active scene bc my arm was touching hers. Lo… https://t.co/v4OTmgrmY9— Amber J. Phillips (@Amber J. Phillips) 1524804420
According to Phillips, the woman in the neighbouring seat had “aggressively” rubbed up against her arm despite the fact that there was little space between them. She asked Phillips if she could “move over”, to which she replied that given the small space, she could not.
Phillips says the woman was able to sit back “comfortably” during landing, prompting the writer to take a photo and video of her.
When this WW sat back in her seat during landing after leaning forward on her seat tray for most of the flight, she… https://t.co/q5AD1VwQBe— Amber J. Phillips (@Amber J. Phillips) 1524843855
When I decided to take a picture & video to document the incident, I deplaned, picked up my bag, and boarded the sh… https://t.co/nvsGMrYYLh— Amber J. Phillips (@Amber J. Phillips) 1524804886
She accuses the airline and the woman of 'humiliating' her.
When the aeroplane landed, the woman spoke to a flight attendant, who ended up calling the police.
This WW & the @AmericanAir FA tried to humiliate me. The FA yelled into the shuttle that she was calling the cops b… https://t.co/wzsfoiBCKz— Amber J. Phillips (@Amber J. Phillips) 1524807084
Phillips was instructed by a policeman to get out of the shuttle, at which point she asked a woman to video her interaction with the him.
While waiting on the shuttle another passager ask me if I was ok. I said no and that I was afraid. I asked the woma… https://t.co/UWWIYZKw1s— Amber J. Phillips (@Amber J. Phillips) 1524844557
Can you imagine? Trying to find eyes of compassion to give someone the courage to document you in case you harm or murdered by the police?!— Amber J. Phillips (@Amber J. Phillips) 1524844694
Phillips called it a 'horror movie'.
Also! My hair was patted down by @TSA before boarding the @AmericanAir flight that led to the cops being called on… https://t.co/Svar2h2TQq— Amber J. Phillips (@Amber J. Phillips) 1524808619
Phillips says that when the police - “a white man” - arrived, he spoke to the woman first and then walked over to her and asked her to get out of the airport shuttle. He asked for her identification, and was then informed that he was investigating the incident “as an assault”.
Eventually, a second police officer arrived on the scene, along with the airport’s gate manager, who asked her what had happened.
The 2nd cop came who was w/ the gate manager. And the gate manager, a kind Black woman, and the eyes of the countle… https://t.co/rpCtYscmXC— Amber J. Phillips (@Amber J. Phillips) 1524846190
I told her. But even the 2nd cop decided to talk to me about my "behavior" with the previous cop instead of the inc… https://t.co/T9Lh8ta0tq— Amber J. Phillips (@Amber J. Phillips) 1524846350
Ugh. I'm so sad. When I realized I only had 11% battery left on my phone, I can honestly say I was deeply terrified… https://t.co/JWE2cFwhGt— Amber J. Phillips (@Amber J. Phillips) 1524855772
Her tweets have been viewed thousands of times.
American Airlines got in touch with her via the social media platform, asking her to “DM with more info”.
@AmberJPhillips We want to make the world a smaller, more inclusive place. Please meet us in DM with more info and your contact info.— americanair (@americanair) 1524802780
The airline told Vice News that the flight attendant called the police after the two passengers got into a verbal altercation, and claims “both” passengers were removed.
The Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority Police Department was called to assist and removed both passengers. We take claims of discrimination very seriously and are continuing to investigate the details of this situation. We have reached out directly to the customers for more information.
The NAACP has warned African-American travellers to be careful when flying with American Airlines. The social justice organisation has documented “a pattern of disturbing incidents reported by African-American passengers, specific to American Airlines". It warned that passengers that...
...booking and boarding flights on American Airlines could subject them to disrespectful, discriminatory or unsafe conditions.
American Airlines has been contacted for comment.
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