Early Saturday morning, an alleged Delta employee who was said to have been involved in a fight on the plane earlier, attempted to open the cabin door mid-flight while traveling from Los Angeles to Atlanta. The plane had to be rerouted to Oklahoma City.
Passengers caught much of the incident, and it was posted to Twitter and other social media channels. Many say the unidentified man yelled out that people needed to be close to [their] oxygen masks.
As the man attempted to open the door, which a Delta spokesperson later confirmed is impossible to do because of the pressurization, the flight’s cabin crew asked for all ‘strong men’ onboard to come help subdue the man. Several male passengers stepped up to help restrain the man until landing in Oklahoma City.
The ironic part of it all, many also claimed the man was an off-duty Delta employee and flight attendant, although that has not been confirmed or denied by Delta Air Lines.
The diverted flight was met by law enforcement and the man was removed from the plane and taken to the hospital. There is no word on what charges he will face. The plane eventually made it to its original destination, Atlanta, around 4am on Saturday.
After the incident, Delta issued the following statement:
Thanks to the crew and passengers of Delta Flight 1730 (LAX to ATL) who assisted in detaining an unruly passenger as the flight diverted to Oklahoma City (OKC). The aircraft landed without incident and the passenger was removed by law enforcement. We apologize to our customers for the delay and any additional inconvenience this caused.
As we reported last week, a man attempted to breach the cockpit of a Delta flight going from Los Angeles to Nashville. A Black male flight attendant was instrumental in subduing the unruly man and hog tieing him until the flight landed in its diverted location.
The FAA continues to report an uptick in incidents as air travel increases again. They have also decided to implement heftier fines for unruly passengers in hopes that it will prevent further incidents.