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In a shocking mid-air incident, a passenger aboard United Airlines Flight 2247 from San Francisco to Washington Dulles violently attacked a sleeping fellow traveler, causing serious injury. The assailant, identified by authorities as Everett Chad Nelson, unleashed a flurry of punches on the unsuspecting man about two hours after takeoff.

According to an FBI affidavit, Nelson, who was seated at 35F in the rear of the Boeing 737, had just returned from the lavatory near the front of the plane when he stopped at seat 12F and began the brutal assault. Sandhya Gupta, a witness seated behind the victim, recounted the terrifying ordeal, describing Nelson's expression as otherworldly. "I will not forget the look in his eyes," she told CBS News.

The attack, which lasted approximately one minute, resulted in the victim screaming as Nelson's relentless blows left his face bruised and bloody. Blood spattered onto Nelson's windbreaker, a nearby seat, and the plane's wall and window. Gupta expressed disbelief at the extent of the damage inflicted with bare fists.

The chaos ended when another passenger dashed up the aisle to restrain Nelson by wrapping his arms around him. "He didn't fight the person who came to subdue him," Gupta noted. "It was like powering off a robot." A doctor onboard immediately attended to the injured man, who was discovered to be deaf and nonverbal when he began communicating in sign language.

The victim suffered significant bruising around his eyes and a gash on his nose, while Nelson showed no signs of injury and did not resist after being subdued. After being relocated to a seat at the front of the plane, Nelson remained unrestrained and docile for the remainder of the flight. United Airlines commended the swift and effective actions of both the crew and passengers in managing the volatile situation.

Gupta shared that a flight attendant mentioned Nelson’s claim that the man he attacked had assaulted him on a street earlier. Throughout the flight, he kept texting messages of innocence to someone unknown. The Federal Aviation Administration has confirmed an investigation into this incident, adding to the tally of more than 1,740 unruly passenger reports this year, though such episodes have decreased from their peak in early 2021.