Russian ex-fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov escorted off plane over exit row disagreement, airline denies racist allegations

Russian ex-fighter Khabib escorted off plane over dispute over emergency exit row

Former Russian UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was asked to disembark a Frontier Airlines plane over a dispute over him sitting in an emergency exit row seat, reports BBC.

The incident reportedly occurred on a flight from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas to Los Angeles on Saturday (11 Jan).

In a viral video on TikTok, 36-year-old Khabib is seen having a tense verbal disagreement with a flight attendant before he is removed from the aircraft.

A flight staff member told Khabib to move seats or leave the plane and catch another flight, as they were uncomfortable with him sitting in the emergency exit row.

When Khabib refused to change his seat, the staff member said she would escalate the matter to a supervisor.

A moment later, Khabib is seen being escorted off the plane by security.

Khabib shares that flight staff insisted on removing him despite his calm demeanour

While the clip doesn’t reveal the full context of the situation, Khabib later shared his side of the story on X.

In his post, he explained that the female flight attendant in the video approached and questioned him in a rude manner.

He pointed out that, despite his fluent English and willingness to comply, the staff proceeded to remove him from the flight.

“Even though I speak very decent English and can understand everything and agreed to assist, she still insists on removing me from my seat,” he wrote, questioning if their motive was based on race and nationalities.

He further shared that he deplaned the aircraft two minutes after his conversation with the flight attendant. He later boarded another flight to reach his destination.

“I did my best to stay calm and respectful as you can see on the video. But those crew members could do better next time and just be nice with clients,” he ended.

Many netizens have accused the airline of discriminatory practices after his post.

Airline acknowledges situation & assures investigation is ongoing

According to BBC, Frontier Airlines issued a statement following the incident, saying the customary briefing for exit row passengers was conducted while the plane was preparing for take-off.

“Customer Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was seated in an exit row, was asked multiple times if he was willing and able to assist in the event of an emergency,” the airline stated.

“According to the flight attendant, Mr Nurmagomedov did not respond, despite repeated attempts, which placed him in non-compliance with FAA requirements.”

The staff subsequently asked Khabib to switch to an upgraded seat, but he refused.

“Therefore, in accordance with airline and FAA policy, he was asked to deplane. The decision to deplane the customer was in no way related to his ethnicity and we have refunded him and his travelling companions for their flights,” Frontier Airlines explained.

The airline said it would follow up with them directly.

Also read: Passenger refuses seatbelt on M’sian plane, gets into shouting match with crew before getting escorted off

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Featured image adapted from @viceplayer28 on TikTok.