A 60-year-old woman who stripped naked during the meltdown on the Frontier Airlines flight from Orlando to Philadelphia last year has been hit with federal charges.
Dulce Huertas, of Philadelphia, now faces charges of interference with flight crew members and flight attendants, simple assault and indecent exposure, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
She drank two cocktails before pulling down her pants among the huddled rows of passengers and squatting on the ground, prosecutors said.
As the crowd of passengers roared in disgust and shock, she said “I don’t care,” told several people to “f*** you” and exclaimed, “I have to go pee!”
A video captured the scandalous moment during the flight from Orlando, Florida, to Philadelphia in November, and later went viral on social media platforms.
Dulce Huertas, who stripped naked during the meltdown on the Frontier Airlines flight from Orlando to Philadelphia last year, has been hit with federal charges.
Huertas, of Philadelphia, now faces charges of interference with flight crew members and companions, simple assault and indecent exposure, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
A federal criminal complaint signed by FBI Special Agent Kyle Kapron details the flight collapse and the charges she now faces.
As the plane was about to land at Philadelphia International Airport, Huertas was seen getting up from her seat and saying, “I have to pee.”
She allegedly yelled and cursed at a flight attendant who asked her to remain seated, the complaint states.
After the plane landed, Huertas began cursing at nearby passengers. Due to Huertas’ behavior, the captain had to instruct all passengers to remain seated.
When the seat belt sign went off and passengers began to rise from their seats, Huertas allegedly pushed them aside as she walked to the front of the plane.
Here’s what thousands of social media users saw in the viral footage as she approached the flight’s forward lavatory.
She said ‘sorry, everyone’; and pulled down her pants and underwear while squatting as if to urinate in the aisle,” the complaint reads.
The crazed woman exposed her anus and genitals, the complaint alleges, and noticed that children were nearby.
Despite insisting she didn’t care, Huertas quickly pulled her pants back up and stood up.
She drank two cocktails before pulling down her pants and crouching on the floor among the packed rows of passengers.
She allegedly yelled and cursed at a flight attendant who asked her to remain seated, the complaint states
When the seat belt sign went off and passengers began to rise from their seats, Huertas allegedly pushed them aside as she walked to the front of the plane.
According to the complaint, Huertas did not urinate, but cursed the passengers and got up.
She again rushed to the front of the plane and reportedly told a flight attendant, “Let me pass, let me pass.”
The flight attendant stood in her way while another tried to disarm the cabin door, fearing Huertas would open the door and activate an emergency shutter.
In her final minutes of the flight, Huertas reportedly punched a flight attendant in the stomach, yelled and cursed at those around her and threatened to kill several passengers.
Huertas has been charged with indecent exposure in the United States’ special aircraft jurisdiction, interference with flight crew members and attendants and simple assault, according to the complaint filed Monday.
If convicted, Huertas faces a maximum prison sentence of 21 years and three months, three years of supervised release and a $355,000 fine.
According to the FAA’s annual year-end data, the number of unruly passenger reports has dropped significantly from the record high two years ago.
In 2023, 2,075 unruly passenger incidents were recorded. For comparison: 5,973 were registered in 2021 and 2,455 in 2022.
“The number of unruly passenger incidents has steadily declined by more than 80 percent since record highs in early 2021, but recent increases show there is still more work to be done,” the FAA said.
This isn’t the first time an unruly passenger has been caught engaging in outrageous behavior on a budget airline flight
Last month, a Polish man was arrested in Colombia after punching a police officer as he was being removed from a Spirit Airlines flight
In July, a woman was caught urinating on the floor of a plane after complaining that staff had prevented her from using the bathroom for two hours
But there have been several cases where unruly passengers have been caught engaging in outrageous behavior on low-cost airline flights.
Last month, a Polish man was arrested in Colombia after punching a police officer as he was being removed from a Spirit Airlines flight. The man allegedly drank too much alcohol during the flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport in Barranquilla.
A September Delta flight from Atlanta to Barcelona was forced to turn around after a passenger on board had diarrhea that “went all the way through the plane.”
In a text message sent to air traffic control, the captain succinctly explained the problem: “Go to ATL – passenger diarrhea all over the plane – biohazard.”
Audio recordings from air traffic control also show that one of the pilots confirmed the situation via radio.
‘It’s just a biological hazard problem. We had a passenger who had diarrhea the entire plane, so they want us to come back to Atlanta.”
In July, a woman was caught urinating on the floor of a plane after complaining that staff had prevented her from using the bathroom for two hours.
A video posted online showed an unidentified woman crouched in the corner of what appears to be a Spirit Airlines jetliner, urinating as a flight attendant dressed in the black and yellow Spirit Airlines uniform, and filmed her.
The woman yells at the flight attendant and says she has had to pee for two hours, but she wasn’t allowed to and the bathroom doors were closed.