A passenger on a Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles to Nashville was caught on video allegedly trying to break into the cockpit while flight attendants tackled and restrained him in zip-ties.
Delta Flight 386 was diverted to Albuquerque, where it landed at around 2:20 p.m. and the man was arrested by airport police, KOAT-TV reported. Nobody was injured in the incident.
The remaining passengers spent five hours in Albuquerque International Sunport before a new flight arrived to take them on to Nashville.
‘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 statement to KOAT-TV.
Delta Flight 386 from Los Angeles to Nashville was diverted to Albuquerque after an unruly passenger tried to breach the cockpit
Flight attendant Christopher Williams, pictured in purple, has been for his heroic actions in detaining the man, whose identity has not been revealed
Another member of the flight crew is pictured handing the yellow zip ties off to someone else on the flight as Williams and two other passengers detain him on the ground
Williams and two men are pictured working to restrain the man who had tried to breach the cockpit
The man was successfully placed in zip ties and carried to the back of the plane and away from the cockpit
People have since praised flight attendant Christopher Williams for his heroic actions in detaining the man, whose identity has not been revealed. Williams was identified as the flight attendant by a woman named Jessica Robertson, who was on the flight.
Cellphone footage posted to Twitter shows Williams wrestling with the man, who is hidden behind a row of seats and out of view of the camera. Another video shows Williams successfully putting his hands behind his back and into zip-ties.
In another video, the unruly man can be heard repeatedly screaming ‘stop this plane’ as Williams and two other men near the cockpit hold him down on the floor.
A photo posted after the encounter shows Williams sweated with his face buried in his folded hands.
Another photo shows the Delta employee seated with his hands together and his head lowered.
‘This man needs an award. Just saved the plane,’ @NoKapRich captioned the photo.
Video taken by Robertson, who was seated in the third row, shows people dragging the man to the back of the plane and away from the cockpit.
‘Flight attendant Christopher Williams acted quickly. So did several passengers around me,’ Robertson wrote.
The FBI field office in Albuquerque tweeted that the agency responded to the airport in New Mexico and there was no threat to the public.
Williams and other passengers are seen putting the man in zip ties
The man was successfully placed in zip ties and carried to the back of the plane and away from the cockpit
The man was heard screaming ‘stop the plane’ while trying to get into the cockpit
People have since praised the flight attendant for his heroism and quick thinking
A photo posted after the encounter shows Williams sweated with his face buried in his folded hands
The incident came as the Federal Aviation Administration has worked to crack down on recent bouts of unruly passengers.
Last month, the FAA fined an ‘abusive’ JetBlue passenger $10,500 after he refused to wear mask and ‘coughed and blew his nose into a blanket.’
The man, whose name was not revealed, had boarded a JetBlue flight from Ft. Lauderdale International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport on December 27 when he began to act unruly, according to a press release from the FAA.
The FAA also fined another JetBlue passenger $9,000 for being ‘disruptive’ on a March 16 flight from Los Angeles International Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport.
While boarding the flight, the man ‘yelled, slammed overhead bins, and shouted profanities at the cabin crew, including threatening to harass a flight attendant during the entire flight,’ the FAA alleged.
The FAA also fined another JetBlue passenger $9,000 for being ‘disruptive’ on a March 16 flight from Los Angeles International Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport.
While boarding the flight, the man ‘yelled, slammed overhead bins, and shouted profanities at the cabin crew, including threatening to harass a flight attendant during the entire flight,’ the FAA alleged.
In a press release last month, the FAA said that the agency has received approximately 2,500 reports of unruly behavior by passengers since January.