Flight attendant loses cool aboard NYC plane

Crew member removed but not arrested; airline apologizes for incident

Video: Flight attendant rants at complaining passengers

Closed captioning of: Flight attendant rants at complaining passengers

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>>> let's begin this half hour with a flight attendant who lost his cool after passengers started complaining about a long delay. it was all caught on tape. nbc's ron mott has details on this. ron , good morning to you.

>> hey, matt, good morning. if you've flown more than a couple of times, you start to tune out announcements flight attendants make. not on this flight. the flight attendant was trust traited, not because seat backs and tray tables with weren't in their upright and locked positions. american eagle flight 4607 from raleigh-durham, north carolina was grounded for five drama filled hours because of weather. the delay pushing the crew to its time limit for the day.

>> if you have [ bleep ] otherwise you're going to have to fly with jose.

>> passengers dave abels flying with his nine-year-old daughter caught the incident on video.

>> the more people spoke up, the more he was getting angry at us and crazy.

>> the line for takeoff was so long and tensions so high, the pilot eventually returned to the gate.

>> unfortunately our hands are tied. we cannot leave until that's obtained.

>> reporter: tempers reached a boiling point and cops showed up.

>> he doesn't care. that's what he got on the intercom and told everybody.

>> serrano and passengers were questioned by the police but no one was arrested.

>> the captain wasn't back here.

>> we're going to finish this discussion on the jet way.

>> the passengers from indie rock band several fellow travelers deserve some of the blame.

>> i think jose probably suffered the brunt of a lot of the frustration of the banks. i noticed at one point it seemed like he was tearing up. i could tell he was upset.

>> reporter: parent company american airlines said passengers were threatening and unhappy. but said it had been a long day for our customers on board as well as our crew. we do apologize. eventually the flight was canceled. nbc reached out to serrano for comment. american airlines spokesperson said the incident is under review, they do not discuss personnel matters. they sent an e-mail from a first class passengers who said passengers were verbally abused.

>> ron , thank you very much.

Show transcript

updated 6/29/2012 11:23:30 AM ET

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NEW YORK — A flight attendant on a weather-delayed plane at LaGuardia Airport in New York City yelled at passengers and challenged them to leave the plane if they dared.

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The incident involving American Eagle flight attendant Jose Serrano was caught on video. Flight 4607 to Raleigh-Durham, N.C., was delayed for five hours on Monday.

Port Authority police were called to the plane.

American Airlines apologized for the incident. It said in a statement it did "not believe that the passengers' frustrations were always met with the level of service that we expect from our people."

Serrano was removed from the plane. There were no arrests.

The incident recalled a similar episode involving a JetBlue attendant last year who swore at passengers and pulled the emergency chute on a flight after it landed at Kennedy Airport.