Monday, September 23, 2019
An American Airlines flight had to make an unscheduled landing after a male passenger became unruly and started punching seats, yelling at other passengers and smoking cigarettes aboard the plane.
Flight 2408, which originated in Phoenix, was headed to Minneapolis on Friday when the passenger became disruptive about an hour after takeoff. Passenger Jim Dickey, who was travelling for a convention, said the man began yelling and making threats toward the other passengers.
“He punched the seat in front of him and the lady screamed,” Dickey told reporters.
Dickey said the pilot announced the flight was diverting about 20 minutes after the incident began. The flight landed in Denver and the man was removed from the plane by police.
“You could tell by the sound that the plane started descending pretty quickly after the flight attendants started to notice” what was going on, he said.
At one point, the man went to the bathroom where he started smoking, Dickey said, adding that while he was in the bathroom he yelled “you’re all screwed”.
Some of the male passengers were prepared to restrain the passenger physically, he added.
“The guy right behind me switched seats to the aisle in case things went awry,” Dickey said.
It’s still not clear what is the present status of the passenger or if he has been arrested. American Airlines issued a statement acknowledging that the flight was diverted because of a disruptive passenger.
“Law enforcement met the flight, and the aircraft re-departed,” said Whitney Zastrow, a spokeswoman for American Airlines. “Thank you to our crew members for taking care of our customers during this situation.”
Tags: American Airlines
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
