Unruly Passenger Disrupts Two Flights in 24 Hours

Uncooperative Passenger Disrupts Two Flights in 24 Hours

An unidentified man diverted two airplane flights in 24 hours due to his disobedient and uncooperative behavior aboard two flights from two separate airlines all within 24 hours.

The first airline to experience his terse behavior was American Eagle, a regional airline owned by American Airlines. The man was on a flight bound to Chicago out of Albuquerque when his behavior caused the captain to divert the flight to Kansas City.

However, it took a federal agent and other obliging passengers to stand by the man to keep him seated until the flight touched down. Airport police hauled him off the plane, but did not charge him with any crime. Hours later the man had made his way to Las Vegas.

Sadly, what happens in Vegas didn’t stay in Vegas because on his US Airways flight out of “sin city” to Charlotte his disruptive behavior resumed and the flight had to be rerouted to Albuquerque. One passenger aboard the American Eagle flight described the man’s behavior as being erratic.

Kevin Mugan was a passenger on the American Eagle flight when he and others noticed a man shouting, refusing flight attendant requests to stay seated and eventually making a move toward an airplane exit.

“We talked about it and decided we’d take the guy down if that’s what we had to do,” Mugan said. “I think there was about 4-5 other passengers behind us, so if he got by us, he’d have to go through them, too.”

Passengers tells ABC News, the man spoke in broken English and at one point, tried to light a cigarette.

“It was just really scary, and we just wanted him off the flight,” said Karen Fuller, passenger.

A federal agent happened to be on the flight. He and a few other passengers surrounded the man in his seat and made sure that he stayed there until the plan made the unscheduled stop in Kansas City.

“This guy was trying to jump out the door, he was trying to get to the exit. We don’t know if he was high, or just intoxicated. He actually leaped over some people, trying to get to the door. He was just trying to light up a cigarette and just being totally disruptive,” said Mugan.

Apparently, the disruptive passenger tried to smoke in the cabin. Next, he climbed over passengers in an attempt to get to the emergency door and open it. The mean caused a great deal of distress to passengers.

A spokesman for the TSA was unable to explain to ABC News why the man was allowed to board a second plane.

Source:
Unruly man diverts Chicago-bound plane, his 2nd flight disruption in 24 hours
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?id=9159814