‘Unruly passenger’ arrested after flight from LA was diverted – Orange County Register

An American Airlines flight was diverted to Kansas City International Airport in Missouri on Sunday afternoon because of “an unruly passenger,” the airline said in a statement.

“American Airlines Flight 1775 with service from Los Angeles (LAX) to Washington, DC (DCA) was diverted to Kansas City (MCI) due to an unruly passenger,” the notice provided to CNN, said. .

“The flight landed safely at MCI at 2:28 p.m. local time and law enforcement was asked to accommodate the flight on arrival,” it added. “We are grateful to our crew members who are dedicated to the safety and care of our customers and who have handled situations with the utmost skill and professionalism. .”

Kansas City Department of Aviation spokesman Joe McBride told CNN that “passengers interfered with the crew,” adding that the case would fall under the jurisdiction of the FBI.

The FBI confirmed the incident in a statement to CNN, adding that the individual in question has been detained.

“The flight was diverted due to an unruly passenger interfering with the crew,” the FBI statement said. “The individual has been detained. No further information is available at this time.”

The Federal Aviation Administration also confirmed to CNN that the flight crew reported disturbances to passengers on the Airbus A321.

Mouaz Moustafa, a resident of Washington, DC, was on the flight and told CNN he saw a flight attendant shouting at another flight attendant to turn on the lights. The plane began to descend rapidly, Moustafa said.

Moustafa added that many people went up to the front of the plane to help hold passengers.

Moustafa told CNN that passengers were trying to get into the cockpit and open the plane’s doors, and a flight attendant hit the man on the head with a coffee maker.

When the flight landed, police and the FBI got involved, Moustafa said.

The passengers have been rescheduled to another flight.

According to FAA data, 2021 has been a bad year for airline passenger unruly behavior in the United States, with 5,981 unruly passenger reports recorded by the agency as of December 31. Of which, 4,290 – almost 72% – were mask-related incidents.