Burbank Woman Detained For More Than 10 Hours For Painting Nails On Southwest Flight
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A Burbank woman was detained for 10 hours for painting her nails on board a Southwest flight headed to Houston.
Jeanie Daniels was on the flight on Feb. 26 to see her boyfriend, Jimmy Hauser, who lives in Houston. Daniels asked the passengers on both sides if they would mind her painting her nails. They said, 'No, go right ahead.'
But a flight attendant wasn't so obliging.
"I thought it was all going well until the attendant came over and was very upset I was painting my nails, saying it was offending everyone around me," Daniels told CBS2's Randy Paige.
Daniels went into the bathroom to finish and a second angry flight attendant was waiting for her.
"She said, 'Weren't you just told not to paint your nails?' and I said, 'Actually, I wasn't. I was just told it was offending people around me so I did the right thing and went to an enclosed area,'" Daniels explained.
The passenger went back to her seat and was confronted by the first flight attendant.
"She said, 'You just blatantly didn't listen to my rules,' and she just kept carrying it on and on," Daniels said.
"She was getting so loud when I was sitting in my seat. I was like, just stop, and I was loud when I said...(expletive) because she wouldn't end the conversation," she added in a phone interview.
Daniels' slip led to her arrest at Hobby Airport. A Houston Police spokesman says the officers interviewed the flight attendant and a witness, then called the District Attorney's Office to ask if they would accept the charge of "abusive profane language."
The passenger said as she was leaving the plane she turned to the first flight attendant and said, while raising her hand, "High five -- no hard feelings."
That prompted a police officer to grab her raised arm, and ask, "Are you trying to hit her?"
The charge was later dismissed by a judge. After more than 10 hours in jail, Daniels was released.
Southwest Airlines released this statement about the incident.
"The Customer in question was taken into custody upon arrival in Houston for behavior she displayed while onboard a flight from LAS - HOU on Feb 26th. The airport police became involved because of the passenger's behavior and a verbal altercation with a Southwest Airlines crew member. Southwest Airlines is responsible for the safety of all of our passengers and Employees"
