“The flight landed safely at MCI at 2:28 p.m. local time, and law enforcement was requested to meet the flight on arrival,” it added. “We’re grateful to our crew members, who are consistently dedicated to the safety and care of our customers and who handled the circumstances with the utmost skill and professionalism.”
Kansas City Aviation Department spokesperson Joe McBride told CNN there was a “passenger interfering with the flight crew,” adding the incident will be under the jurisdiction of the FBI.
The FBI confirmed the incident in a statement to CNN, adding the individual in question had been taken into custody.
“The flight was diverted due to an unruly passenger interfering with the flight crew,” the FBI’s statement said. “The individual has been taken into custody. No further information is available at this time.”
The Federal Aviation Administration also confirmed to CNN that the flight’s crew reported a passenger disturbance aboard the Airbus A321.
Mouaz Moustafa, a resident of Washington, DC, was aboard the flight and told CNN he saw a flight attendant yelling to another flight attendant to turn the lights on. The plane began rapidly descending, Moustafa said.
More people went up to the front of the plane to help hold the passenger down, Moustafa said. Moustafa told CNN the passenger was trying to get into the cockpit and open the plane door, and a flight attendant used a coffee pot to hit the man over the head.
When the flight landed, police and the FBI came onboard, Moustafa said. Passengers were being rescheduled on another flight.
Read More:American Airlines flight diverted to Kansas City due to ‘unruly passenger’
2022-02-14 01:57:00
