Delta is investigating allegations of anti-Semitism against a flight attendant on a plane from Fort Lauderdale to LaGuardia

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NEW YORK (WABC) — Delta Airlines said it is currently investigating allegations of anti-Semitism against one of its flight attendants.

The investigation relates to a flight to LaGuardia Airport on Monday evening, in which a Hasidic Jewish passenger was ordered off the plane before it took off from Florida, but witnesses say the man did not did nothing wrong.

A passenger who begged Eyewitness News to protect his privacy shares what he considers to be a deeply moving story.

The passenger, who happens to be a Hasidic Jew from Brooklyn, says it happened aboard Delta Flight 1541 Monday night from Fort Lauderdale to LaGuardia.

He said he was yelled at by a flight attendant over his hatbox, which he stowed in the overhead compartment.

“And she’s like, ‘You always come with a lot of packages, take this hatbox, put it under your seat,'” the passenger said. “And I made it clear to him that I would put him under my seat, voluntarily, I would put him under my seat, if need be.”

Eyewitness News spoke to three other passengers on the flight, none of whom knew the man, including one who filmed a video showing how the compartment was not overloaded.

But also, Michelle Landsman, who was seated a few rows back, said she couldn’t believe what she saw next.

“She grabbed her bag in anger for no reason,” Landsman said.

“So I got up from my seat, I walked behind her, ‘could I please get my suitcase’, she said to me, ‘I’ll show you,'” said the passenger.

Shortly after, a security supervisor, seen on video in a red jacket, was called and the passenger was asked to leave the plane.

The other passenger who took the video said he was also Jewish, but not Hasidic.

“When she used the term, ‘You people..’ I was afraid she would be so aggressive that I said to my son, ‘Be careful, she’s not coming after us.’ And I told him to take off his yarmulke, so that we weren’t targeted as well, I took off my yarmulke,” said the other passenger.

In a statement, Delta confirmed, “We are committed to using the outcome of this investigation to come to a full understanding of and respond to the events that unfolded.”

These events include their decision to remove the passenger.

Delta says it’s not standard policy, but it’s certainly not unprecedented. A flight attendant can have a passenger removed from a plane whether they are right or wrong.

And certainly if there’s no other choice, that is, if the plane is at a small airport, where they can’t replace that flight attendant.

But passengers said the matter in question went far beyond that.

“I’m Jewish, I just felt bad, I believe it’s an anti-Semitic act towards this man, or towards the Hasidim,” Landsman said.

Eyewitness News reporter Stacey Sager asked the passenger if he thought she chose him.

“100% because I found a black hat, with a black jacket,” the passenger said.

He is afraid it will happen again. Delta gave him a $500 voucher on Monday, but he flew home with American Airlines the next day.

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