Another airline is facing backlash for its treatment of a passenger. Terrell Davis, a former Denver Broncos NFL player and MVP of Super Bowl XXXII, was detained by the FBI in front of his family after he requested a cup of ice from a United Airlines flight attendant during a flight from Denver to Orange County, California.
Davis shared his account of the incident on Instagram, explaining that he asked for the ice for his son and tapped the flight attendant on the arm to get his attention, believing he hadn’t been heard. The flight attendant allegedly responded by saying “don’t hit me” before heading to the back of the plane. Upon landing, FBI agents and local police arrested and handcuffed Davis, leading him off the plane. The FBI’s Los Angeles field office confirmed to CBS News that Davis was briefly detained before being released.
Although Davis is Black, he did not explicitly state that the incident was racially motivated. He noted that he had “hard conversations” with his family about the experience.
“I refuse to stand by without speaking out on this disgusting display of injustice and deplorable treatment by United Airlines,” Davis wrote on Instagram.
This event is reminiscent of a similar situation where a group of Black American Airlines passengers were removed from their flight after being accused of “offensive body odor.” They sued American Airlines, and the carrier’s CEO has since apologized. Davis mentioned that his legal team is in contact with United Airlines.
In a statement to Quartz, United Airlines said, “this is clearly not the kind of travel experience we strive to provide, and we have reached out to Mr. Davis’s team to apologize” and added that “we have removed the flight attendant from duty while we closely review this matter.”