A man allegedly attempted to enter the cockpit of a Delta Airlines flight over the weekend, in an incident that ultimately saw the man wrestled and restrained by cabin crew and passengers.
Delta Flight 386 from LAX, which was carrying 162 passengers and six crew members, was bound for Nashville, however was diverted to Albuquerque, New Mexico, in an emergency landing on Friday.
Stephanie Kitts, a spokeswoman from the Albuquerque International Sunport, received several reports from the air traffic control tower that a passenger onboard the Boeing 737-900 had allegedly tried to break into the cockpit mid-flight.
Videos of the incident posted to Twitter showed the man shouting “Stop the plane” as cabin crew and fellow passengers tried to restrain him.
This was our view from the 3rd row right after the @Delta attendants and passengers apprehended the person who attempted to get into the cockpit. He was screaming “Stop the plane.” pic.twitter.com/8CG7zNFpTq
— Jessica Robertson (@jesscribe) June 4, 2021
Another passenger on the flight told CNN the man “seemingly unprovoked, just got up and rushed the pilot’s cabin and began banging on the doors”.
After attempting to breach the cabin, the man was eventually restrained by cabin crew and passengers.
Upon landing in Albuquerque, the man was taken into custody.
The FBI Albuquerque said in a tweet, “There is no threat to the public at this time.”
The #FBI is responding to a report of a diverted flight at @ABQSunport. There is no threat to the public at this time. pic.twitter.com/GmnOdZPact
— FBI Albuquerque (@FBIAlbuquerque) June 4, 2021
Delta thanked all people on the flight after the incident.
“Thanks to the crew and passengers of Delta Flight 386, LAX to Nashville (BNA), who assisted in detaining an unruly passenger as the flight diverted to Albuquerque (ABQ),” the statement said. “The aircraft landed without incident and the passenger was removed by law enforcement.”
Now, the FBI will be investigating the incident, the Associated Press reported.
This incident comes shortly after a woman was caught on video being punched in the face on a Southwest flight to Sacramento a few weeks ago.
Vyvianna Quinonez, age 28, was caught on video injuring the crew member, resulting in damages to her teeth. This instigated a huge uproar on social media as well, which was then followed by the airlines’ decision to rethink resumption of alcohol onboard.
There were 194 ‘Unruly Passengers’ reported to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in all of 2020. However, numbers have already drastically surpassed last year’s reports, reaching 394 before May.
The FAA can propose up to $35,000 per violation for unruly passengers and the Federal Aviation Regulations 91.11, 121.580 and 135.120 state that “no person may assault, threaten, intimidate, or interfere with a crewmember’s duties aboard an aircraft being operated”.
No further information has been released.
