US airline company Republic Airways has been forced to fire two employees after video footage surfaced of them fighting on a runway at Denver airport.
In the nine-second clip, a male and female employee can be seen getting into an altercation. Things take a turn for the worse when the male employee is seen charging for his female colleague who then slaps him and turns away. The man then hits her in the stomach and slaps her in the face.
The incident was first picked up by Fox News, and was originally shared on FlyTalk.
A spokesperson for the Denver Police Department confirmed the incident, telling Fox News the altercation took place shortly before 10am on the morning of September 13.
undefinedBoth the man and woman were arrested on charges of domestic violence and assault. The spokesperson could not confirm if the two had appeared in court.
In the interim, Republic Airways confirmed that both employees have been fired. The video footage shows the male possibly dressed as a flight attendant or pilot, while the woman is dressed as a flight attendant.
In a statement, Republic Airways said that it had investigated the situation when it occurred last month.
“We are aware of a situation that occurred last month involving two of our employees. We investigated this matter and took appropriate action consistent with our belief that such behavior is unacceptable. These individuals are no longer employed at Republic,” the statement said.
Twitter investigators were quick to jump to their own conclusions with some believing the incident to be a workplace romance gone wrong, while one user went as far as suggesting that the female attendant had it coming because "she hit him first".
undefinedHmmm.....reportedly workplace romance. Sad to say but these two have been physically abusing each other before.....just not in front of the cameras. And this 'out-of-control', totally unhinged pilot should never be allowed in ANY pilot's seat again......EVER.
— Lisa (@ldstep) October 9, 2019