‘Unruly’ American Airlines passenger forces emergency Kansas City landing

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An “unruly” passenger subdued by airline staff prompted the emergency diversion of American Airlines flight 1775 – en route from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. – to Kansas City, Missouri, on Sunday afternoon.

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“One of the flight attendants jumps all the way to the back and grabs a coffee pot and walks up to the front,” passenger Mouaz Moustafa told WDAF-TV.

“There’s a man who’s trying to get into the cockpit, and afterwards, also tried to open the door to get out the plane. So, some of the passengers that were very heroic, helped the flight attendant who went to the back and got the coffee pot, came up and kept, sort of, bashing him in the head,” he added.

According to flight tracker FlightAware, the incident occurred about three hours into the flight, diverting the plane to Kansas City International Airport, KSHB-TV reported.

An American Airlines spokesperson released the following statement:

“American Airlines flight 1775 with service from Los Angeles (LAX) to Washington, D.C. (DCA) diverted to Kansas City (MCI) due to an unruly passenger. The flight landed safely at MCI at 2:28 p.m. local time, and law enforcement was requested to meet the flight on arrival. 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.”

A local FBI spokesperson told KHSB-TV that the passenger was taken into custody for interfering with the flight crew.

Meanwhile, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants issued the following statement in response to the incident:

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