Sha'Carri Richardson thrown off flight following altercation with attendant

Sha'Carri Richardson has recorded an argument that she had with a flight attendant that saw her removed from an American Airlines flight on Saturday (21 January).

The athlete, 22, can be seen filming herself in the video before she accuses the flight attendant - known only as 'John' - of disrespecting her.

The video begins with the camera facing Richardson before the flight attendant comes into the frame and the argument continues.

"You're harassing me at this point," she says in the video. "I think you should stop."

"Y'all see him?" she then asks the other passengers as the flight attendants try to get her to stop recording.

"Talk to him. No ma'am," she says. "Do no talk to me like that. I'm an adult. Do not talk to me like that. Do not talk to me like that. Tell him to stop. If you do not know what's going on, do not yell at me."

In another video, the athlete can be seen being taken off the plane - to the applause of the other passengers.

As she later revealed on Instagram, she was upset because of the way the attendant had spoken to her for using her phone before takeoff.

The attendant reportedly then stood over the 22-year-old to ensure that she put her phone on airplane mode.

Instagram / carririchardson_

The athlete explained in the caption: "Prior to the video this gentleman asked me to get off a cell phone call, I did.

"I stated to him I didn't like the tone he used with me. Following that while standing in front of me doing the safety protocols he continued to lean over to look at my phone.

"He asked to see that my phones were in airplane more at this point. He demanded that I show him. Which I did in front of him."

As you can imagine, the video did not go unnoticed when it was reposted to Twitter.

One viewer remarked: "Flight attendants aren’t your servants. You follow their directions or get kicked off. Put her on the no fly list."

"From watching this clip, she is 100% wrong," added a second. "Disobeying an order from a flight attendant is grounds for being booted which she was. It's her own fault."

"I'm sure there’s more to the story," remarked a third, while a fourth wrote: "She needs to grow up and follow the SAFETY rules for everyone!"

UNILAD has reached out to American Airlines and a representative for Sha'Carri Richardson for comment.