I think we all can agree that flight cancellations are the worst. But for some stranded Sprit Airlines passengers in Florida, it proved to be more than they–and the airline staff, for that matter–could handle.

Travelers began screaming at airline employees and throwing punches inside of Fort Lauderdale’s airport Monday evening after the budget airline announced the cancellation of several flights, leaving hundreds stranded.

The situation went viral after cellphone footage captured Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies struggling to break up a fight between two women near Spirit Airline’s ticket check-in counter.

Chaos at a Florida airport after @SpiritAirlines flights are canceled: https://t.co/5fkrx1xerS pic.twitter.com/7vlufN3TD6

— NBC DFW (@NBCDFW) May 9, 2017

A massive brawl broke out at a Florida airport when Spirit Airlines cancelled 81 flights in one day https://t.co/xn4oiwg0L7 pic.twitter.com/Nvog2Xyymh

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) May 9, 2017

In another video, police wrestled a man to the ground near the ticket counter and placed him in handcuffs.

Just witnessed police brutality at Fort Lauderdale airport @SpiritAirlines trying to get back to NYC…i’m tired its 2017 pic.twitter.com/3UHGUqCuwm

— Brionka Halbert (@brionkahalbert) May 9, 2017

Altogether, the deputies arrested three people for inciting the crowd of about 500 customers. They face charges of inciting or encouraging a riot, disorderly conduct, resisting an officer, and trespassing after receiving a warning.

According to Buzzfeed News, Spirit alleged in a lawsuit filed Monday that its pilots and their labor union, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), conspired to purposefully reduce pilot availability, resulting in approximately 300 canceled flights over the past week. On Sunday alone, the airline said it was forced to cancel 81 flights–17 percent of its scheduled flights for that day–because pilots refused to work amid contentious contract negotiations.

Spirit estimates that about 20,000 customers have been affected since the cancellations began last week.

“We are disappointed that ALPA has decided to engage in this unlawful slowdown,” said Paul Berry, Spirit spokesman, in a statement. “This has led to canceled flights and prevented our customers from taking their planned travel, all for the sole purpose of influencing current labor negotiations. So we reluctantly filed this suit to protect our customers’ and our operations.”

“This is clearly unlawful activity under the Railway Labor Act, which governs labor relations in the airline industry,” Berry added. “ALPA and those individuals responsible should be held accountable.”

Spirit has been in contract negotiations with its pilots for the past two years, after they expressed dissatisfaction with current pay rates, retirement benefits, and the airline’s lack of profit-sharing.

As a result, pilots have refused to accept junior assignments or pick up “open time flying,” which has dramatically impacted Spirit’s ability to operate smoothly. The union, on the other hand, denies urging members not to accept assignments.

In June of last year, Spirit pilots went on a five-day strike that left thousands of passengers stranded. Then, in October, nearly 100 pilots picketed at the Dallas Fort Worth airport and outside Spirit’s headquarters in Miramar, Florida.

This all comes as the airline industry is under fire after a series of intense customer service scandals made headlines across the nation. With summer quickly approaching, the industry as a whole could really benefit from some good PR as travelers begin to prep for vacation travel.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Spirit Flight Cancellations Lead to Passenger Brawl at Ft. Lauderdale Airport appeared first on Law Street.

At least five people were killed and at least eight were injured when a gunman opened fire inside the Fort Lauderdale International Airport in Florida on Friday afternoon, the Broward Sheriff’s Office confirmed via Twitter.

Update: 5 ppl dead; 8 injured were taken to an area hospital.

— Broward Sheriff (@browardsheriff) January 6, 2017

The office said it got the initial 911 call around 12:55 p.m., and around 2 p.m., it tweeted that a suspect was taken into custody. But even after that, closer to 3 p.m., additional shots were heard inside the airport and the search for more perpetrators was ongoing.

Active search: Unconfirmed reports of addt’l shots fired on airport property.

— Broward Sheriff (@browardsheriff) January 6, 2017

Everyone evacuated off neighboring plane after reported shooting in baggage. We’re sitting on tarmac. Florida! pic.twitter.com/4h5kRTECso

— Stephen Falk (@stephenfalk) January 6, 2017

Photos and videos shared on social media showed injured people bleeding and general confusion about what was going on.

Shots fired at FLL airport. Guy is bleeding profusely. Supposedly others are shot on the lower level at Delta Term 2. pic.twitter.com/UcL73Y8yGx

— Maxwill Solutions (@MxWllSolutions) January 6, 2017

People started running across the tarmac as CNN tried to figure out what the current situation was.

JUST IN: Passengers at Fort Lauderdale airport seen running across the tarmac https://t.co/mSBYzuRvC5 https://t.co/UsnVix6kjc

— CNN (@CNN) January 6, 2017

Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer was there during the shooting and reported via Twitter that no one was let out of the airport.

All seems calm now but the police aren’t letting anyone out of the airport – at least not the area where I am.

— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) January 6, 2017

Andrea Ruiz is the daughter of an airport worker and told Buzzfeed News that her mother didn’t know what was going on and it seemed like the situation was not safe yet. “SWAT and police ran into parking garage in front of Terminal 2. My mother and coworkers are back in office hiding. No one knows what is happening…something else has happened,” she said.

According to CNN, the FBI and ATF are at the scene. MSNBC reported that the shooter in custody had been identified as Esteban Santiago, a man born in 1990 with a U.S. military ID. It is unclear whether the ID is genuine.

Senator Bill Nelson on MSNBC right now. Says shooter has been identified as Esteban Santiago – carrying a military ID #FortLauderdale

— Stewart Moore (@Stewartmoore) January 6, 2017

Additional threat? After suspect arrested, police now running w weapons drawn & another terminal at Ft Lauderdale airport being evacuated.

— Lisa Fletcher (@lisa_fletch) January 6, 2017

As of Friday afternoon, the situation is still ongoing and the story is developing.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post At Least Five People Dead After Gunman Opens Fire at Fort Lauderdale Airport appeared first on Law Street.

Another deadly terror attack shook Turkey late Tuesday evening. Three suicide bombers opened fire before blowing themselves up inside Turkey’s Atatürk airport in Istanbul, killing at least 41 people and injuring 239, according to the latest information from BBC.

The attackers reportedly arrived in taxis and opened fire outside the main entrance, as well as in the departures hall. Police then responded to the shooting and the attackers detonated their bombs in three different spots around 10 pm local time.

#Istanbul #airport attack: 23 Turks, at least 10 foreign nationals killed, officials say, as death toll rises to 41 pic.twitter.com/ljSYvnjnSV

— Arab News (@Arab_News) June 29, 2016

I condemn terrorist attack at #Istanbul‘s intl airport. My condolences to the families & friends of the victims. pic.twitter.com/CPb5mjqNph

— Masood Khan (@smasood800) June 29, 2016

Atatürk airport is one of the most active airports in Europe with 61.3 billion passengers passing through in 2015. Among the killed who have been identified, 23 are Turks and 13 are from foreign countries.

An eyewitness who came out unharmed told Reuters how one of the men was walking around shooting randomly in the departures hall.

“He was wearing all black. His face was not masked … We ducked behind a counter but I stood up and watched him. Two explosions went off shortly after one another. By that time he had stopped shooting […] He turned around and started coming towards us. He was holding his gun inside his jacket. He looked around anxiously to see if anyone was going to stop him and then went down the escalator … We heard some more gunfire and then another explosion, and then it was over.”

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but officials believe the Islamic State is behind it. This attack has many similarities to the airport attacks in Brussels earlier this year. Turkey shares a border with Syria and has been experienced several bombings and terror attacks conducted by ISIS so far this year.

~ 40 people wounded in #Istanbul airport blast being transported to hospital: broadcaster Haberturk @ReutersWorld pic.twitter.com/FR6srbFTxU

— Christian Thiels (@ThielsChristian) June 28, 2016

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a united fight against terrorism. He said in a statement, “If states, as all humanity, fail to join forces and wage a joint fight against terrorist organizations, all the possibilities that we dread in our minds will come true one by one.” He also spoke with President Obama who said he strongly condemned the suicide attack in a phone call.

CCTV footage that has been circling on social media shows one of the bomb blasts:

CCTV footage appears to show moment bomb goes off at Istanbul airport https://t.co/PudONKvbHP pic.twitter.com/fGtdHD7E6x

— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) June 28, 2016

The flags at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels were at half-mast on Wednesday.

#NATO flags at half-mast marking yesterday’s attacks at #Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport. @TurkDelNATO pic.twitter.com/96LfpGEvaE

— Oana Lungescu (@NATOpress) June 29, 2016

Istanbul made an effort to not give in to terrorism. The airport is back up and running less than 24 hours after the bombing.

Incredibly #Istanbul airport is up and running less than twenty four hours after the attack pic.twitter.com/cHCDtt0C5W

— alex rossi (@alexrossiSKY) June 29, 2016

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Suicide Bombers Kill 41, Injure 240 in Istanbul Airport appeared first on Law Street.

The city of Brussels, Belgium fell victim to a series of ISIS-claimed terror attacks during Tuesday’s morning rush hour at the Zaventem airport and downtown Maelbeek subway station. So far, at least 34 people have been reported dead, and the number of those injured is in the hundreds.

“A lot of people were on the floor” — #Brussels attack witnesses describe carnage, chaos https://t.co/QVs0OWNXSv pic.twitter.com/bzXcdH0Gyr

— CNN (@CNN) March 22, 2016

In total there were three explosions. The first two took place at around 8 AM local time, or 3 AM Eastern time in the departure hall of the Brussels Airport. Officials have said that at least one of the explosions was triggered by a suicide bomber. The blasts happened outside of the security checkpoints for passengers near an airline check-in counter and a airport Starbucks. Reports have placed the first attack’s death toll at 14 people ,and estimated the number of those injured to be 92.

About an hour later there was another explosion, which targeted the Maelbeek subway station which resides in the heart of Brussels. At least 20 people were killed and 106 were injured at the subway station.

Images and videos of the attacks showed panicked travelers escaping trapped train cars and fleeing the smoke filled airport.

Warning: The following video shows actual images from after the attack.

Belgium has called for three days of national mourning and has effectively shut down travel in and out of the city. All flights in and out of the international hub have been suspended and the entire subway network has been closed. Workers at two nuclear power plants in Belgium were also evacuated, but so far there has been little information on whether or not there is a direct threat to the facilities.

Amaq News Agency, an ISIS-affiliated new agency, released a statement that claimed Islamic State fighters armed with explosive belts were responsible for the attacks. The statement also claimed that the bombers “opened fire” before detonating their bombs inside Zaventem Airport.

Many believe the attacks may have been in response to the Friday arrest of Salah Abdeslam, who is considered to have been the main fugitive and sole survivor involved in the November 13 terror attack in Paris that killed 130 people.

Belgium authorities have released the following photo to the media of the three men who are currently suspects in the airport attack. According to BBC, “the two men dressed in black are believed to have blown themselves up, while the man in white is thought to have escaped.”

Image of three possible suspects in #Brussels airport attack widely shared by Belgian media https://t.co/oyQsHushEk pic.twitter.com/L3i3vU8SyK

— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) March 22, 2016

President Obama offered his condolences for the attacks at the beginning of his long awaited speech to the Cuban people Tuesday, saying:

We stand in solidarity with them in condemning these outrageous attacks against innocent people. We will do whatever is necessary to support our friend and ally Belgium in bringing to justice those who are responsible. And this is yet another reminder that the world must unite. We must be together regardless of nationality or race or faith in fighting against the scourge of terrorism. We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world.

Many people have also responded by sharing their condolences on social media.

The international community comes together for #Brussels: https://t.co/S8dORpsnOJ pic.twitter.com/0y3jYFJnQ8

— Good Morning America (@GMA) March 22, 2016

The senseless tragedy today breaks my heart. Sending thoughts & prayers to #Brussels. Time for us to stand together. pic.twitter.com/85kDLXicSR

— Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) March 22, 2016

I hate waking up to yet another terrorist attack.This world is out of control. #notagain #PrayersForBrussels pic.twitter.com/La6ELmAs7F

— kingscourtautographs (@kingscourtgraph) March 22, 2016

A lot of details surrounding the attacks are still unknown, and we could still see a rise in the death toll and the number of those injured. We’ll continue to update you with more information as it comes.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post World Shocked by Terror Attacks in Brussels, Death Toll Still Rising appeared first on Law Street.

The Transportation Security Administration agents recently failed 67 out of 70 total tests, missing 95 percent of the of mock explosives and weapons that were smuggled into airports by undercover Homeland Security Red Teams, ABC News Reported.

Since the administration’s last review in 2009, the Department of Homeland Security spent $540 million on checked baggage screening and $11 million to train Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents. Despite these expenditures, ABC news notes that the TSA has “failed to make any noticeable improvements in that time.” Professors John Mueller and Mark Stewart further reviewed homeland security expenditures using a cost-benefit analysis. They conclude, based on the costs of security and the financial damages of potential attacks, American spending has not produced the necessary results.

The failed airport security tests come at the worst possible time for the TSA. In the past couple months, we have witnessed multiple breaches in airport security. In April, a teenager snuck into a wheel well on an airplane leaving from the West Coast and flew all the way to Hawaii. In late May, a man was able to bypass airport security at LAX, only to be subdued by a TSA officer with a taser as he reached gate 66.

Last August, a woman was able to board a plane in San Jose without a ticket. The woman made it all the way to her destination before being arrested by police, who later determined that the she suffered from a mental illness.

After news of the recent Red Team tests emerged, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said,

Changes will be made in response to the identification of the vulnerable aspects by these tests.

According to the ABC News report, one undercover agent was actually stopped after setting off the alarm at the magnetometer, but after a pat down, TSA agents failed to find fake explosives taped to the undercover agent’s back.

The question now becomes, what new security measures will be enacted by the TSA, and will these new measures be any more effective?  The TSA recently started testing electronic devices traveling to and from overseas cities at many U.S. airports with direct international flights. The new rule will require passengers to power on their devices when arriving at security checkpoints for overseas flights. If the device will not power on, it will not be allowed past airport security checkpoints.

Many passengers feel this does not adequately address all the security concerns as it is only being implemented in select airports and does not address the problem of passengers smuggling bombs and weapons on their bodies, which TSA agents failed to detect in the mock testing. In 2014, the TSA  confiscated 2,212 firearms at 24 airports after screening nearly 653 million passengers, a 22 percent increase from 2013 where only 1,813 firearms were confiscated.

With external security threats remaining high according to terrorism experts, it is imperative to keep internal security at its best. Homeland Security has used Red Teams for the last 13 years to detect security flaws; however, the changes never seem to address the problems accurately. NBC News notes that since 2002, TSA agents failed similar Red Team tests on several occasions, indicating that there are many existing security flaws yet to be addressed.

NBC recently learned that 270 TSA security badges went missing at the San Diego International Airport over the last two years. These missing badges would allow non-Homeland Security personnel to gain access to restricted locations within the airport. As of March 2015, the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta saw more than 1,400 badges go missing over a similar time period.

How are we supposed to trust TSA agents with our lives when they can not be trusted with their own badges? Unless the TSA is able to completely restructure the airport security system, it is unlikely that new changes will make a large enough difference to deal with existing security threats.

Jennie Burger

Jennie Burger is a member of the University of Oklahoma Class of 2016 and a Law Street Media Fellow for the Summer of 2015. Contact Jennie at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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