Off-duty flight attendant forces Delta flight to divert
An off-duty flight attendant forced a Delta Air Lines flight headed to Atlanta from Los Angeles to divert in Oklahoma after he attempted to access the plane’s intercom system.
Oklahoma City police told CNN that the man was subdued after assaulting two flight attendants and threatened to “take the plane down.”
Once the plane landed in Oklahoma, the man was taken into custody and transported to a hospital with minor injuries, police told the news outlet.
One passenger told CNN that someone got on the intercom system and advised passengers to prepare to put on their oxygen masks when the plane was two hours away from Atlanta.
Oklahoma City police said on Twitter that the FBI is now handling the investigation into the incident.
Video of the incident shared to Twitter showed people scuffling to the front of the pane, which is dark, and attempting to pin a man to the ground.
Someone tried hijacking our plane from LAX to ATL pic.twitter.com/fkPDPR60hu
— AB (@alifuckingburns) June 12, 2021
A spokesperson for Delta Air Lines told NBC News that the person tried to access the plane’s public address system before being confronted by passengers. The flight continued to Atlanta after he was removed.
“We apologize to our customers for the delay and any additional inconvenience this caused,” the airline said.
The Hill has reached out to Delta for comment.
The incident marks the second Delta flight in as many weeks to be diverted because of an unruly passenger.
Earlier this month, a Delta flight was forced to make an emergency landing after it took off from Los Angeles International Airport because a passenger attempted to breach the cockpit.
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