FAA investigating after deaf and non-verbal man 'viciously' attacked while sleeping on United flight

SAN FRANCISCO -- A bloody attack on a United Flight is now being investigated by the FBI and FAA.

A man who was deaf and non-verbal was beaten by another passenger in what appears to be a random case after the plane departed from San Francisco International Airport on Monday.

"The next thing I know, I just hear the these blood-curdling screams," said passenger Sandhya Gupta.

Gupta is describing the moment she woke up two hours into her United Airlines flight from SFO to Washington Dulles International Airport on Monday.

In the row in front of her, she could see one passenger attacking another.

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"He was just very violently and very aggressively just pummeling the guy who was in the window seat who was in front of me and it was vicious. This wasn't like a bar room, I'm going to throw a couple of punches around, I mean this was vicious," said Gupta.

The FBI says the suspect, Everett Chad Nelson, had just gone the bathroom and was walking back to his seat when he attacked the victim, who was sound asleep, in a random row that was not his.

Another passenger jumped in to help.

"Basically kind of like wrapped this guy in sort of like a hug and the assailant just, it was the weirdest thing, he just went limp. This doctor was just like trying to stop the bleeding, his face was just a mess. It was awful. There was blood spatter on the window shape and all that kind of stuff," said Gupta.

It was then that Gupta says they learned that the victim couldn't hear or speak.

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"When he was trying to communicate with us in sign language that's when we realized he was deaf and non-verbal," he said.

That victim was communicating with the United flight crew by phone messages, according to Gupta.

"He also just kept texting, 'I'm so scared.' Like it was just awful," he said.

Gupta says some of those texts were from flight attendants who said that the suspect had claimed the victim attacked him in the street earlier but the victim wrote that he had never seen the man before in his life.

The suspect was arrested shortly after the plane landed at Dulles and is still in jail at last check.

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The victim, who was being treated by the doctor on board, was okay but physically and mentally shaken over what happened.

United Airlines issued this 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. The flight landed safely and was met by paramedics and local law enforcement."

The FAA issued this statement:

"United Airlines Flight 2247 safely landed at Dulles International Airport in Virginia after the crew reported a passenger disturbance on Monday, Oct. 28 at 1:40 p.m. local time. The Boeing 737-900 departed San Francisco International Airport. The FAA will investigate. Please contact the airline and local authorities for additional information."

Background:

The rate of unruly passenger incidents has dropped by over 80% since record-highs in early 2021, but unacceptable behavior continues to occur. Airlines have reported more than 1,240 unruly passenger cases in 2024.

The FAA pursues legal enforcement action against any passenger who assaults, threatens, intimidates, or interferes with airline crewmembers, and can propose civil penalties up to $37,000 per violation. Detailed current data on these incidents is available on ourunruly passenger website.