A male flight attendant has been suspended after being accused of hitting a woman with a pram, just missing the baby in her arms, in the latest shocking incident on a passenger airliner in the United States.

The aftermath of the fracas aboard an American Airlines flight was captured in a video which showed the attendant nearly becoming involved in a fight with a passenger who intervened.

It came just two weeks after passenger Dr David Dao, 69, was physically dragged off a United Airlines flight by aviation security officers and hospitalised when he declined to voluntarily leave an overbooked plane.

That led to international outrage and a public relations disaster for United.

The incident on American Airlines happened as Flight 591 was preparing to take off from San Francisco for Dallas on Friday.

An airline spokesman said it began with a dispute over whether the woman, who had two small children with her, could bring a pram on board.