Southwest plane forced to go back to gate as passenger strips naked: reports

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Southwest jet nearly collides with private plane on Chicago runway

Fox News correspondent Mike Tobin reports on a near-collision between a commercial flight and a private plane on the runway of Chicago Midway International Airport.

A Southwest plane bound for Phoenix was forced to go back to the gate this week after one of the passengers walked to the front of the plane and started taking off her clothes. 

The woman, who had said she wanted off the flight and had stripped completely naked, began berating the passengers on the packed flight, harassed the flight attendants and even started pounding on the cockpit doors, other passengers said, according to local outlets.

“She turned toward us and stripped all of her clothes off,” a passenger told KHOU-TV. 

Another passenger explained to KPNX-TV, “She started jumping up and down, screaming at the top of her lungs. … It was very evident that she was having a mental breakdown.”

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A Southwest flight at Houston’s Hobby Airport was forced to return to the gate after a passenger reportedly stripped naked. (Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)

She added, “I was just hoping that the plane wouldn’t take off, which it didn’t, thank God.”

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The passenger also told KPNX that the woman claimed she was bipolar.

Houston’s Hobby Airport (James Nielsen/Chronicle)

One of the passengers caught the incident on cellphone video, which showed her walking up and down the plane’s aisle completely naked, screaming and banging her head. 

After the plane returned to the gate at Houston’s Hobby Airport, a worker covered her in a blanket, but then the woman took off, the passenger said. 

“The lady just runs out of the airplane, and who knows where she went?” she told KPNX. 

The flight was headed to Phoenix from Houston. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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Houston police told the station she was taken to a hospital for medical evaluation and isn’t facing any charges yet. 

Southwest told KHOU, “Local law enforcement met Flight 733 from Houston to Phoenix Monday afternoon after it returned to the gate because of a Customer situation onboard. We apologize to our Customers for the delay in their travels and appreciate their patience as our Teams worked to get them to their destinations as quickly as possible.”