A video filmed earlier this year showing Sen. John Fetterman in a tense exchange with a flight crew member over his seatbelt on a flight to Pittsburgh has gone viral online— after a New York Magazine report raised new concerns about his health.
The video of the senator’s exchange with a flight crew member surfaced shortly after the magazine article published Friday, in which current and former staffers voiced concerns about his health. The report revealed that Adam Jentleson, Fetterman’s former chief of staff, told a Walter Reed medical director last May that he feared the senator was “on a bad trajectory” and might “not be with us for much longer.”
The February plane incident was cited in the article as a sign that Fetterman’s behavior “was leaking out into public,” with staff reportedly finding such moments “increasingly difficult to explain.” The video, recorded during a flight to Pittsburgh, shows Fetterman in an argument with a crew member—identified by the magazine as the pilot—who asked whether he was wearing his seatbelt. Fetterman is heard replying, “Yes it is,” and later, “I put my seatbelt on.” Portions of the video are inaudible, particularly Fetterman’s responses.
The footage of John Fetterman arguing with a commercial airline pilot about wearing his seat belt: https://t.co/d1FRGRy9oNpic.twitter.com/LmhOEMG4HB
— Brendan Hartnett ???????????????? (@BrendanHartnett) May 2, 2025
In the clip, the pilot can be heard saying, “It needs to be visible to the crew at all times—that’s a federal regulation.” Fetterman responds defiantly, raising his hands, prompting the pilot to reply, “If you want to go to Pittsburgh, it’s simple.”
He then adds, “You’re going to have to follow our instructions or be asked to get off the airplane,” while offering Fetterman a seatbelt extender so it wouldn’t need to go under his sweatshirt.
It’s unclear how the matter with the Democratic Pennsylvania senator was resolved.