A woman who filmed herself screaming on a flight has been accused of staging the panic attack for views. Mia, a Korean woman living in Singapore, went viral for the TikTok video where she started yelling as the aircraft experienced turbulence.
A TikTok user filmed herself screaming on a flight, sparking a debate. (TikTok/@_youmia)
Millions of people who came across her viral TikTok video accused the content creator of being dramatic, wondering how she had time to set up a camera to record her reaction if she were really as anxious a flyer as she claimed.
Mia has since hit back at allegations of faking the video, saying that a past traumatic experience with turbulence on a flight shaped her reaction. The Singapore-based woman said she was a passenger on the SQ321 flight where severe turbulence in 2024 left one passenger dead and several others injured. Mia said she fractured her spine in that incident.
The controversial viral video
On January 13, Mia shared a TikTok video where the on-screen text read, “Full panic attack on a plane.”
“What I ate on the flight: anxious flyer edition,” she captioned the clip, which shows her eating the in-flight food.
Mia said in the clip that she usually takes anxiety medication before boarding a flight. This time, however, she did not do so — and she termed it a “big mistake”.
As the plane began to experience turbulence, the anxious flyer was seen getting more and more scared. “You can see the shaking. I’m scared, I’m holding the side. My pinky is up, that means I’m really scared,” she said, as her camera filmed her with her pinky finger raised.
Mia was then seen screaming as the plane shook, looking straight at the camera. As the turbulence subsided, she broke down crying.
You can watch the video here.
The video has racked up 6 million views in two days, but many viewers accused the content creator of staging the clip.
“I can’t even speak or make any sound when I have a panic attack…” wrote one person.
“I don’t think panic attacks look like that,” another said.
“As somebody who gets actual anxiety attacks, this is not what they look like,” a third person agreed.
“Imagine upgrading to business class to avoid screaming kids but you encounter screaming adults instead,” one quipped.
Another TikTok user added, “If you had a panic attack, you would not be able to eat. And this is coming from a former panic attack girly.”
Woman hits back
Mia has since hit back at the allegations, saying that she was injured in 2024 on Singapore Airline Flight 321. The flight encountered severe turbulence, leaving one person dead and more than 140 injured.
(Also read: 5 shocking photos reveal the nightmare faced by Singapore Airlines passengers and crew)
She said she was in the bathroom during the incident and fractured her spine. To support her account, Mia shared photos of her spine X-ray along with images of herself in the hospital.
She also emphasised that fear of flying is a genuine concern, asking viewers not to be “so quick to judge”. “I don’t think we should invalidate anyone’s fear just because we don’t relate, and fear looks different for everyone,” she said.
Mia clarified that she edited and posted the original video because she thought it was funny but admitted that she may have cut out too much footage, which caused some viewers to believe it was fake.