Delta Airlines flight diverted after unruly passenger tries to breach cockpit after LA flight makes emergency landing in Albuquerque. Video captures man repeatedly screaming, ‘you got to stop this flight.’
Flying across America’s dramatic skies….A Delta Airlines flight to Tennessee was forced to land in New Mexico on Friday after an unhinged passenger reportedly tried to break into the cockpit.
The plane from Los Angeles was diverted to Albuquerque, where it landed at around 2:20 p.m., according to KOAT-TV.
The un-named suspect was taken in to custody and the aircraft then continued on to Nashville. No one was injured. The Boeing 737-900 was carrying 162 passengers and six crew members USA Today reported.
‘The passenger was not successful. The plane landed safely and the passenger was removed by police and the FBI. He is in custody now,’ Delta said in a released statement.
Jessica Robertson a female passenger on the flight tweeted more than two minutes worth of footage of the hogtied suspect being restrained at the front of the plane.
I was on this flight in the 3rd row – witness to everything. Terrifying but our @Delta flight attendant Christopher Williams acted quickly. So did several passengers around me. Safe but still in Albuquerque. Hope @delta gives Chris every bit of recognition and bonus he deserves. https://t.co/5IuxSZ27NN
— Jessica Robertson (@jesscribe) June 4, 2021
Flight attendant Christopher Williams comes to the rescue
In the post, the man can be heard crying out ‘you gotta stop this plane’ at least 25 times with increasing urgency — as three men near the cockpit hold him down on the floor.
‘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,’ Robertson wrote. ‘He was screaming ‘Stop the plane.”
The men are then seen dragging the suspect to the back of the plane, away from the control room.
‘Flight attendant Christopher Williams acted quickly. So did several passengers around me,’ Robertson wrote.
The incident is the latest in a string of episodes of unhinged passengers either attacking flight attendants, other passengers or generally refusing to abide by airline protocol, increasingly during recent demands by airliners mandating passengers wear face masks amid the ongoing pandemic.
Authorities have yet to say what caused the latest commotion.
