Woman arrested at Hartsfield for refusing to leave plane

Aliana Velazquez Rosa brought too many pieces of carry-on luggage onto her AirTran flight.

But it was Atlanta two police officers who ended up carrying Rosa — not the baggage — off the airplane.

Rosa, of Jackson Heights, N.Y., was charged Sept. 28 with criminal trespassing and taken to Clayton County Jail.

Rosa, 33, was flying from New York to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and had a connecting flight at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, said AirTran spokesman Tad Hutcheson.

She somehow got four bags past the AirTran gate agent and onto the Boeing 737 plane, which was full with nearly 140 passengers, Hutcheson said.

She put two bags in the overhead bin, and was trying to find room for the other two, Hutcheson said.

But there wasn’t enough space, and a flight attendant told Rosa that she had to either consolidate the bags or check two of them and pay a baggage fee, Hutcheson said.

AirTran and most other airlines allow passengers to bring aboard one piece of carry-on luggage and one personal item, such as a purse or laptop bag, and charge extra fees for additional baggage, AirTran spokesman Tad Hutcheson said.

Rosa apparently didn’t like any of the options and refused, according to Hutcheson and an Atlanta police report.

“Allegedly, the lady didn’t have money to pay for the second bag,” Hutcheson said. “That’s what I’m hearing.”

Several other AirTran staffers made similar requests, but all were met with the same refusal, Hutcheson said.

“She disobeyed all of the crew’s commands,” Hutcheson said.

In order to depart on time, AirTran officials called the police. She would not comply with an officer’s demand to get off the plane and lay on the floor, prompting two officers to physically remove her from the plane, the report said.

The other passengers were “getting annoyed with this passenger who was holding up the entire airplane,” Hutcheson said.

After getting out of jail, Rosa caught an AirTran flight to San Juan the next day. This time, she checked her bags, and AirTran waived her fee for switching flights, Hutcheson said.

Rosa could not be reached for comment.