Turbulence? Delays?
Try unsolicited hairstyling at 30,000 feet.
A Virginia woman is demanding answers after an unknown passenger behind her reportedly gave her an in-flight makeover while she slept.
TikTok user Danielle (@real.danieb) took to the platform on March 25 with a gavel in hand, calling out the secret stylist who allegedly braided her hair while she slept on an early morning American Airlines flight from Charlotte to Los Angeles.
To prove her case, Danielle shared a photo of the small, tight mystery braid on the back of her head. Additionally, the TikTokker provided printed emails documenting her journey, highlighting that her flight departed at 7 a.m. on Saturday, March 15.
She captioned her four-minute video, “Hide ya weaves, anonymous hair braider on the loose.”
As the clip began, the content creator urged the suspect, whom she claimed had “braided” her hair while she snoozed, to “come forth immediately.”
Danielle included specific details such as her seat assignment (23F) and the flight number (3051). “I’m only listing specifics because I want the person to know that I know who you are,” she explained.
She recounted that she only noticed the braid in her hair after waking up from a deep sleep during the flight.
“When I get on the plane, I don’t sleep. I hibernate, okay?” she said, adding that “as soon as the plane takes off, I’m knocked out.”
Danielle recalled that the only thing that roused her was the sound of a camera shutter behind her.
“So I’m, like, ‘Who’s taking pictures?’ I don’t pay no mind to it, because if you want to take pictures on a plane, that’s none of my business,” she went on. “I’m just trying to get to my destination.”
Danielle said she found the braid in her hair when she arrived at her LA Airbnb, and it suddenly occurred to her that the person seated behind her on the plane may have done it before taking a picture.
“I need answers. Why you did that? I was deeply disturbed,” Danielle said directly to the camera.
She also shared that the culprit braided her hair so tightly that she “had to take it out with a rat tooth comb.”
In the video, which has over 4.7 million views, the creator repeatedly addressed the braider, saying, “I just need you to come forward and discuss why you thought it was OK to braid a woman’s hair while she was asleep.”
She additionally slammed the move as “weird and creepy,” advising viewers not to “touch people in general that you don’t know.”
The Post reached out to American Airlines for comment.
Fellow TikTok users shared their reactions, with many expressing surprise and bewilderment.
One called the braiding hair “insane,” asking, “Are we not respecting boundaries anymore??”
Another commented, “This is WEIRD. I hope you’re okay,” as one other noted, “Touching someone without their consent and leaving THEM with a trophy of it is CRAAAAZY.”
Someone else referred to the unknown braider as the “Midnight Barber” as others jokingly dubbed them the “Braid Bandit.”
On March 28, Danielle shared a nearly six-minute follow-up TikTok video in which she said she had not heard back from either the braider or the airline.
She also shut down accusations claiming she purposefully tossed her hair over her seat on the flight, asserting that the rumor was “100% false.”
Danielle, who usually shares videos featuring her DJ performances and the nightlife scene in Washington, also recognized the humorous aspects of the story, noting that other TikTok users found it amusing and laughed.
However, she emphasized that “you would think in 2025, we wouldn’t have to discuss keeping our hands to oneself, but we do.”
She added that “situations like this and worse keep happening to people” on flights.
“Therefore, we have to keep reiterating why it’s important about consent,” she declared.
