American Airlines Passenger Wrongly Accused of Indecent Act

When it comes to situations that can occur at 36,000 feet, reality is sometimes stranger than fiction.

Last week, TikToker Erin Wright, 24, went viral for a colorful description of an incident that happened to her on an American Airlines plane. (AAL) flying from New Mexico to New Orleans for his sister’s bachelorette party in June.

According to the passenger, a flight attendant approached her and informed her that she was permanently banned from flying with the airline for “having sex with a man on a flight while intoxicated,” even though she had no idea what security was referring to.

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According to Wright’s account, she had difficulty checking in for her flight and was sent to multiple agents and airline representatives after going to the counter and asking to be checked in manually.

“You have indeed been banned from flying with American Airlines.”

“The lady looks nervous and says, ‘Ma’am, I’m really sorry to tell you this, but you’ve been banned from flying with American Airlines,’” Wright described to her 78,000 followers. “She (said it was) an internal security issue, but the person on the phone said you should know why.”

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“I finally got an email from corporate security saying I was banned because I had sex with a man on a plane while drunk,” Wright explained. “Well, let me tell you, I’m a 24-year-old lesbian. Do I have sex with a man? No.”

The video has been viewed more than three million times and has attracted nearly 13,000 comments expressing disbelief at the absurdity of having to prove you are someone you are not. She even had to enlist the help of her mother, who sent her an email confirming that her daughter was indeed a lesbian. Wright was never told who the person who tried to join the gay club was, or why she was mistaken for them (similar incidents have occurred in the past when someone has the same name as a criminal).

@erin_wright_

Thanks for being the worst @American Airlines #storytime #funnystory #funnyvideos #airlinetiktok #airplanestory #funny #fyp

♬ Original sound – Erin Wright

“They still haven’t contacted me to sort things out on their end.”

After more than half a day of back and forth with various American Airlines representatives and airport security, American Airlines finally helped Wright clear her name and get her removed from the no-fly list, but she was still more than $1,000 behind after booking a last-minute ticket trying to figure out which flight she could get on.

In a TikTok follow-up to the incident, Wright said the viral video helped her earn $1,000 through channel monetization, but American Airlines has yet to respond to her requests for compensation for the lost money and inconvenience of being stuck at the airport.

“As for the update with American Airlines, they still haven’t reached out to me or commented on the video to work things out on their end, but I hope they do anyway,” Wright said. “I’m looking into a lot of things that you all recommended, like contacting the Department of Transportation to file a complaint or suing them in small claims court.”

TheStreet was also unable to reach American Airlines for comment on the situation.

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