A passenger travelling on a Southwest Airlines flight from Chicago to Houston had to be removed from the plane after calling a flight attendant a ‘N*****.’
Witnesses said that the woman became upset with the attendant when she was told to put her table up to prepare for take-off on the flight from Chicago to Houston on Sunday morning.
In the video recorded by another passenger, the woman can be heard using graphic language and saying the N-word.
She can be heard continuing to use the slur as she is removed from the plane.
The female passenger (pictured) stands as she is asked to leave the plane and can be heard continuing to use offensive slurs as she is escorted from the flight by security
After the offensive response, the flight crew decided to deplane the passenger and she was met at the gate by local law enforcement.
Another passenger on the flight captured video of the incident and posted it to YouTube.
The passenger has not yet been identified as she has not been formally charged with any crime.
In a statement Southwest Airlines said reports indicate that a Customer refused to comply with our Flight Crew’s instructions after boarding and before the flight departed Chicago.
It added: ‘The customer became unruly and verbally abusive toward our flight attendants, and the decision was made to return to the gate to deplane the Customer, where she was met by local law enforcement officers.
‘Our employees handled the situation professionally with grace and class, and we do not condone or tolerate such profane and unruly behavior on board our aircraft.
‘Once the customer deplaned the aircraft, the flight resumed to Houston Hobby, arriving about an hour later than originally scheduled’.
The passenger (pictured) continues her racist rant as she is escorted off the flight on Sunday
Other passengers clapped and cheered as the woman (pictured) was asked to leave the plane
It is understood that other passengers on the flight clapped and cheered as the woman from removed from the plane.
The incident is not the first time that the airline has been confronted with controversy over race issues.
Last month, a former Southwest Airlines employee filed a discrimination lawsuit against the airline, claiming it had a whites-only break room at William P Hobby Airport in Houston.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas by Jamel Parker, who worked for the airline from 2013 to 2017.
Parker took legal action after he received his right-to-sue notice from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Southwest Airlines said it does not tolerate any offensive or unruly behavior
The lawsuit states that the whites-only break room was not only in existence for years but that Southwest Airlines and Parker’s supervisor were also aware of the segregated break room.
The break room was ‘common knowledge,’ according to the suit and employees referred to it as the WB, short for “White Break Room.”
In May coach Lindsay Gottlieb wrote that an employee at Southwest’s ticket counter asked for proof that she is Jordan Gottlieb Martin’s mother in the form of a birth certificate.
Gottlieb claimed that the Southwest employee, who cited “federal law,” then asked her to ‘prove I’m (his) mother with (a) Facebook post.’.
‘She said because we have (a) different last name,’ Gottlieb wrote in one tweet. ‘My guess is (it’s) because he has a different skin color’.
In a statement provided to USA TODAY the airline company said it had corresponded with Gottlieb to address her concerns and spoken to the employee involved.
“We apologize if our interaction made this family uncomfortable — that is never our intention,” Southwest Airlines said in the statement.
‘Our employees are well-regarded for their hospitality, and we always strive for the best experience for anyone who entrusts us with their family’s travel’.