Passenger filmed sticking gum in woman's hair in plane fury incident

Sticking chewing gum in another person's hair is rarely condoned, however footage of a furious passenger unleashing her anger on another woman's hair has divided the internet.

Few places are people more protective of personal space than in the plane seats of an economy-class cabin. This is perhaps best illustrated by a video captured by Janelle Flom, as she watches a fellow traveller unleash her 'air rage' on the stray strands of hair of the passenger seated in front.

The strangely compelling act of vengeance has been viewed 77million since being uploaded to Facebook.

This savage confrontation is far from one sided.

Each time the woman in front replaces the strands of hair over the back of her seat, again it is flicked back by the increasingly furious passenger.

Many pundits said the passenger had it coming. Photo / Screenshot, Janelle Flom

Eventually the passenger behind sticks clumps of chewing gum into the woman's hair. Seemingly unaware the passenger keeps her hair over the back of the chair, and the offended party exacts increasingly drastic attacks on the loose strands of hair: dunking the ends in a flask of coffee, sticking a lolly in the ends, and even snipping an offending lock out of the passenger's hair.

Vengance is a snack served cold. Photo / Screenshot, Janelle Flom

"I feel like she got what she deserved," commented a viewer on Tiktok.

Many felt that arguing as to which passenger was in the wrong was splitting hairs. One viewer dismissed it as "total rudeness on both their parts".

At one point a cabin crew member in a facemask appears to turn a blind eye to the act, knowing better than to interfere in the ugly fight.

Sticky situation: Cabin crew were uncertain as to get involved. Photo / Screenshot, Janelle Flom

However, some online pundits felt the mid-air hair-rage was too brutal to be real. The prank was called out by one viewer as "totally staged!"

"Come on that's a wig" they wrote. "You think after she flipped it she didn't feel all that stuff in her hair!"

The filmmaker behind the 'surreptitiously filmed' confrontation, Janelle Flom, has a history of making viral prank videos.

Real or not, the feelings it elicited from air travellers were decidedly genuine and strong.

One commentator did not doubt that it could be real, saying she had been through a similar experience:

"I had this happen to me in school. My hair and jacket were cut," she said. "That's bullying and assault. She should get charges."