United Airlines Crew Wrestled Violin From Passenger Aboard Flight

The struggle for United Airlines to get good press continues, this time, a violinist accused the airline security of wrestling her instrument away from her.

Orchestral violinist Yennifer Correia was on her way to perform with the Missouri Symphony Orchestra when she was stopped at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas Sunday. Her Houston lawyer Philip A. MacNaughton posted a letter on her Facebook page on the same day describing the events.

"Yennifer Correia…was in the process of boarding her flight from Houston to St Louis when a United supervisor refused to permit her to carry her violin onto the plane," MacNaughton wrote.

"Ms Correia explained that it was necessary for the instrument to remain with her and asked what her options would be. The United supervisor told Ms. Correia there were 'no options' and became belligerent when Ms. Correia asked for her name."

"Without provocation, the supervisor for the Chicago-based carrier then lunged for Ms. Correia’s case and, incredibly, tried to wrestle it away from the musician. Ms. Correia screamed for help. The United supervisor threatened to 'call security' and Ms. Correia responded, 'Please do!' at which point the United supervisor ran away."

READ MORE: United Airlines Flew A Plane In Unsafe Condition 23 Times, FAA Says

This year has been rough for United. The scandals seemed to come one after another during April, and the negative press has taken a toll on the company’s stock market.

The first major scandal of the year came when David Dao refused to give up his seat on a flight in Chicago he'd already boarded, so the crew could make room for airline staff earlier in the year in April. He was dragged out by security officers, which was caught on tape which went viral on the internet.

The fallout from that event was swift with heavy criticism placed on the CEO of United and the practices of United’s policy for removing passengers when planes are overbooked.

"I continue to be disturbed by what happened on this flight," said CEO Oscar Munoz in a statement at the time, "and I deeply apologize to the customer forcibly removed and to all the customers aboard. No one should ever be mistreated this way."

READ MORE: United Airlines Scorpion Scare: Flight Delayed After Stinging Insect Found Inside Plane

Only a few days later, United found itself in another scandal, when, a few days after the forced removal of Dao, another passenger on his way from Houston to Calgary was allegedly stung by a scorpion.

The poisonous creature fell from an overhead bin and landed on Richard Bell's hair as he was eating lunch Sunday in his business class seat, according to his wife Linda.

"My husband felt something in his hair. He grabbed it out of his hair and it fell onto his dinner table. As he was grabbing it by the tail it stung him," she told CNN at the time.

The repercussions were initially damning to the airline, with stocks falling low in mid April at the height of the scandal. However, by May, the airline had recovered, and was at an all-time high. It’s unclear yet how much the latest scandal will affect the company.