Angry Passenger Knocked A United Airlines Gate Agent Out Cold

There have to be easier ways to get yourself banned from an airline. You don’t need to punch a gate agent in order to accomplish that, although doing so will expedite the process.

A 54-year-old Maryland man proved that last Thursday at Gate 12 of Dulles International Airport. He's now on the United Airlines no-fly list, and he earned himself a trip to jail.

A United Airlines gate agent was knocked out cold by an angry passenger. (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images)

FOX 5 DC reports that Christopher Stuart Crittenden punched a United Airlines gate agent over a seating assignment. Airport police say that he had been drinking prior to delivering the suckerpunch.

Crittenden was angry because his original flight had been canceled, and then he was inexcusably assigned a middle seat on his new flight.

Obviously, punching a gate agent and knocking him out for roughly a minute wasn’t going to solve anything, but that's what the reported retired fire captain chose to do.

In a short viral video of the incident, Crittenden can be seen walking up to the gate agents. He can be heard saying, "This is bullsh*t. Who f*cking wants to take it first" before delivering the punch to the closest gate agent.

The gate agent who was knocked out by the angry passenger is already back on the job

As mentioned, in addition to being banned by United Airlines, Crittenden was arrested, and he was charged with assault and disorderly conduct.

I don’t need the emails pointing out the obvious here. I already know. Technically, he didn’t have to fly in the middle seat.

But creating a bunch of new problems for yourself by punching someone else in the face isn’t an effective solution to this situation. You simply can’t haul off and punch people over a seating arrangement.

The gate agent on the receiving end of the punch was taken to a local hospital. He's a tough dude and, according to FOX 5, was back at work the next day.