Former NFL star Terrell Davis was arrested following an altercation with a United Airlines flight attendant but the Broncos all-time leading rusher who retired from professional football in 2001 says the FBI ended up “profusely apologizing” after they determined he hadn’t done anything wrong.
The incident occurred on Saturday when Davis was traveling with his family on a United Airlines flight from Denver to Orange County and has resulted in the airline removing the flight attendant from duty while an investigation gets underway.
Taking to Instagram, Davis posted a lengthy statement explaining what had happened and how an “incredibly rude” flight attendant had accused Davis of hitting him.
According to Davis, the inflight beverage service quickly went awry, with the flight attendant running to the front of the plane to call the FBI on Davis after he had tried to get the crew member’s attention.
“During the beverage service, my son politely requested a cup of ice,” Davis wrote. “The flight attendant either didn’t hear or ignored his request and continued past our row”.
“I calmly reached behind me and I tapped his arm to get his attention,” Davis continued. “His response and the events that followed should stun us all”.
Davis claims the flight attendant immediately shouted at him “Don’t hit me” before “hurriedly” going to the front of the plane.
Although Davis considered the flight attendant “blatantly rude”, he says he tried to put the incident behind him and didn’t think much more of it for the rest of the flight.
But when the flight landed in Orange County, all the passengers were told to remain seated as FBI agents and local law enforcement boarded the plane.
The agents proceeded straight to Davis and placed him in handcuffs before frogmarching him off the plane for questioning.
Unsurprisingly, Davis says he feels humiliated and embarrassed by how he was removed from the plane but during questioning, the agents quickly ascertained that he hadn’t done anything wrong and “profusely apologized” for what had happened.
Davis says he is yet to hear anything from United about what happened but he has already sought legal advice and is demanding an investigation.
“These lies and the ensuing events have the capacity to tarnish the reputation I have spent decades building,” Davis wrote in his Instagram post. “This person should not be able to do this again to anyone in the future”.
United Airlines has spent years trying to rebuild its reputation following the infamous Dr David Dao incident back in 2017.
The Chicago-based carrier is said to have lost $1.4 billion in the days following the bloody incident in which Dr Dao was dragged off a United plane by security officers at Chicago O’Hare Airport after the airline overbooked his flight and wanted to remove him to make room for a crew member.
In the wake of the incident, United and several other carriers changed their passenger bumping rules to ensure that passengers are first offered large cash payments to voluntarily switch from an overbooked flight.
In the years since, United has also taken a less combative attitude with passenger, encouraging flight attendants and other staffers to deescalate situations and follow up at a later day rather than taking a confrontational approach.
In an emailed statement, a statement for United Airlines told us: “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.”
“We have removed the flight attendant from duty while we closely review this matter.”
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