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Tag: unruly passenger

  • Unruly Passenger Starts A Fight On American Airlines Flight 1284, Troublemaker Identified

    An American Airlines flight from Miami to Chicago made an emergency landing in Indianapolis on Monday after an unruly passenger hit two officers on the plane, reports said.

    Daniela Velez-Reyes, 25, has been identified by the police as the unruly passenger who caused commotion in American Airlines Flight 1284, Monday evening. She has been detained at the Marion County Jail in Indianapolis. The woman is charged with battery resulting in physical injury, battery without injury, criminal recklessness, disorderly conduct, battery of a public safety officer, and disrupting the operation of an aircraft.

    Based on the online flight log, the incident occurred at around 5:30 pm EST. According to one passenger, Velez-Reyes exhibited weird behavior.

    “She was disoriented through the entire flight, not being able to find her seat, walking back and forth,” said fellow passenger Marian Frendt, “And when she came to the back, she was sweating profusely.”

    The woman kicked the seat of the passenger in front of her but when the man turned to ask her, she hit him.

    A flight attendant came to settle the commotion but Velez-Reyes, according to a witness, “grabbed the flight attendant by the face and kissed her, then punched her in the face.”

    The pilot decided to make an emergency landing in Indianapolis at around 5:45 p.m. according to Jeff Dutton, Indianapolis International Airport communications manager. The unruly passenger kicked the police officer who escorted her off the plane.

    The victims were a 52-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman. Reports said they suffered minor injuries.

    The flight interruption caused the passengers to arrive in Chicago 90 minutes late.

    It is still not clear whether the U.S. Department of Justice will make federal charges against the unruly passenger, according to ABC News.

  • Unruly Passenger Causes Emergency Landing After Kissing, Punching Flight Attendant

    Unruly passenger Daniela Velez-Reyes caused a major delay for fellow passengers on Monday after she reportedly became violent mid-flight.

    According to witnesses, the woman got into an altercation with another passenger and was asked to come to the back of the plane to settle down by a flight attendant. Once there, they say, Velez-Reyes allegedly forcibly kissed and then punched the attendant, causing an emergency landing in Indianapolis. The flight was originally scheduled from Miami to Chicago, and FBI personnel came aboard to investigate.

    “No one knew anything until we landed and when we landed, they said authorities would be boarding plane and we needed to stay in our seats. They went to back of plane where they were holding the passenger and you could hear her yelling expletives and being obnoxious,” said witness Jim Saviano. I went to the back of the plane once they allowed us to get up and the flight attendant was icing her face and I asked her what happened. She said that the passenger was being obnoxious and had hit another passenger, and she asked her to come to the back of the plane so that she could talk with her, and while she was talking with her, the woman grabbed the flight attendant by the face, she kissed her and then she punched her in the face.”

    13 WTHR Indianapolis

    According to local news source WTHR, the flight was delayed for about an hour and a half while authorities investigated and eventually arrested Valez-Reyes. She faces several charges–including battery with injury to a person, battery with no injury to a person, battery with injury to a safety officer, criminal recklessness and disruption of a flight–but it’s not clear what caused the chaos.

  • Southwest Flight Diverted After Passenger Attempts to Open Door

    A man’s attempt to exit a Southwest plane while in mid-air left passengers in complete panic Sunday.

    Flight 722-which was transporting 134 passengers and five crew members-was en route to Sacramento from Chicago when it was forced to make an unintended stop in Nebraska due to the disorderly passenger.

    Witnesses say that Joshua Carl Lee Suggs was acting pretty strangely after the flight took off. Some have even associated his behavior with drugs or a mental illness.

    At one point during the flight, he ran to the bathroom and returned to his seat drenched.

    The pandemonium didn’t start, however, until Suggs left his seat and made his way to the back of the plane in an attempt to unlatch the door.

    One eyewitness tells KCRA-TV that she just new something bad was about to happen.

    “You got this bad feeling that [something] wasn’t going right,” said passenger Lori Depalma.”Especially when a bunch of big guys got up and immediately jumped into the aisle and ran to the back of the plane.”

    Three gentlemen made their way to the back of the plane after hearing one of the flight attendants scream for help.

    “We basically tackled the — I don’t want to say gentleman — but the guy who was back there and pinned him down and restrained him,” said Dr. Scott Porter, who assumed at first that the screams were medically-related.

    Passenger Natalie Lee also told the station that she was “glad there were some burly men on the plane” to prevent what could have ended tragically.

    Once the plane landed in Nebraska, Suggs was arrested by airport police officers.

    He’s charged with interference and will face an Omaha, Neb., judge Wednesday.

    The flight eventually arrived safely in Sacramento two hours off schedule.

    The FBI plans to look more into the incident.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Flight Diverted Due to “Unruly Passenger”

    Flight Diverted Due to “Unruly Passenger”

    An AirTran flight left Baltimore Monday afternoon, making it’s way to Austin, Texas. During the flight a man, who is being described as an “unruly passenger”, tried to open the emergency exit at the back of the plane.

    AirTran Flight 265 was forced to land at Memphis International Airport at around 6:30 p.m. The plane was over Little Rock, Arkansas when the incident occurred, and the pilots chose to land in Memphis because it was the closest AirTran airport. “It’s the kind of thing you hear about and worry about and it was handled completely professionally and calmly,” said Patty Solum, who was a passenger aboard the flight.

    The man, who has not been identified, was restrained by off-duty military passengers until the plane completed the emergency landing. None of the 120 passengers or 5 crew members on board were hurt. However, they were all forced to evacuate the plane once it had landed in Memphis.

    The passengers were then interviewed by the FBI and were allowed to re-board the plane and continue their flight to Austin at around 8:30 p.m. One passenger said that the man seemed to be suicidal and was claiming that he no longer wanted to live.

    “Everyone was really calm and in good spirits and understanding,” said Tara Hamilton, who was on the flight along with her son. “Luckily there were military personnel on the plane and they were really accommodating. It could have been way worse but it wasn’t that bad.”

    http://youtu.be/q1pw51ftEeE

    The Memphis International Airport Vice President of Operations, John Geraud, said that, at the time of his arrest, the man did not appear to be intoxicated, suicidal, or unruly.

    The FBI and the TSA detained the man and questioned him for two hours about his actions. It has not yet been determined whether or not charges will be filed against him.