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Did He Deserve It? Passenger Punches Out United Airlines Employee In Newark

Their skies may be friendly, but it's a different story on the ground.

A screen grab calls to mind a famous photo of Joe Frazier knocking down Muhammad Ali in Madison Square Garden.

A screen grab calls to mind a famous photo of Joe Frazier knocking down Muhammad Ali in Madison Square Garden.

Photo Credit: twitter.com/HaymakerHub

A Newark Airport passenger who was slapped during a fight with a United Airlines employee retaliated with a knockdown, a viral cellphone video shows.

Yet the employee wouldn't quit.

In the end, the employee was fired, according to the airline, and the passenger was charged with simple assault, according to Port Authority police.

The video posted to Twitter over the weekend shows the pair at first slapping one another before fists start flying around 11 a.m. last Thursday, May 19.

The worker taunts the passenger, identified by Port Authority police as ex-NFL player Brendan Langley, who currently plays in Canada.

The worker takes a fighting stance, urging Langley to "c'mon."

The worker -- who hasn't been officially identified -- slips a couple of swings before one knocks him back into a cart that had been wheeled onto the baggage scale.

"Stop! Please stop!" a woman shouts.

The worker comes back at Langley, only to take two more punches and a push. But he bounces right back.

The passenger turns to say something to a bystander when the worker slaps him in the face.

"You saw that sh*t?" the passenger shouts to the bystander.

He then throws a series of punches that sends the worker through the scale and onto his back between the counter and the baggage carousel.

Bleeding from above the eye, the worker staggers to his feet -- then marches right back toward the backpedaling passenger.

"He wants more? He wants more!" the passenger shouts to the bystanders.

"You want more?" he asks the worker. "You want more?"

Other workers then step in.

Unconfirmed reports were that the confrontation began when the employee tried stopping the passenger from using a wheelchair instead of luggage carts to move his bags.

Langley was taken into custody, charged with simple assault, and released, according to Port Authority Public Information Officer Rudy King.

United Airlines, meanwhile, said the employee -- who worked for a subsidiary contractor -- was let go.

“United Airlines does not tolerate violence of any kind at our airports or onboard our planes and we are working with local authorities to further investigate this matter,” a statement read.

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