American Airlines employee allegedly hits woman with stroller, tells onlooker to 'stay out of this'

American Airlines has suspended an employee, following an altercation that involved several crew members, passengers and a crying mother who was accompanied by a young child.

Facebook user Surain Adyanthaya had posted a video of the dispute, alleging that a flight attendant "violently took a stroller from a lady with her baby on my flight, hitting her and just missing the baby."

He added, "Then he tried to fight a passenger who stood up for her."

According to ABC News, the incident took place on Flight 591 from San Francisco to Dallas on Friday (Apr 21).

It apparently arose from a dispute as to whether the woman could bring her baby stroller on the flight, said a spokesperson for the airline.

The footage starts off with the woman, who was crying while carrying her child, telling flight attendants, "Can you just give me back my stroller, please?"

She also repeatedly said, "Oh my god" as she tried to wipe her tears away.

At one point, a male passenger intervened by asking for the name of the flight attendant who took away the woman's stroller, before returning to his seat.

The flight attendant then entered the plane and was immediately confronted by the male passenger who said, "You do that to me and I'll knock you flat."

In response, the staff member told him, "You stay out of this."

Both men then engaged in a heated argument, with the employee challenging the other party to hit him and adding, "You don't know what the story is."

However, the passenger replied, "I don't care what the story is. You almost hurt a baby."

Other crew members broke up the quarrel and the flight attendant eventually left the plane, while the other guy went back to his seat.

American Airlines said in a statement, "We are deeply sorry for the pain we have caused this passenger and her family and to any other customers affected by the incident."

The woman and her family were upgraded to first class for the remainder of their international trip, it added, according to ABC News.