An American Airways flight was diverted Wednesday night after a passenger reportedly assaulted a flight attendant.
Flight 976 had departed New York’s John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport and was headed to John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, however was diverted to Denver due to the incident, the airline mentioned.
Regulation enforcement apprehended the passenger on the gate, in response to American Airways.
The airline didn’t present extra particulars or the flight attendant’s situation.
“Acts of violence in opposition to our crew members is not going to be tolerated by American Airways,” it mentioned in a written assertion. “The person concerned on this incident won’t ever be allowed to journey with American Airways sooner or later, however we is not going to be glad till he has been prosecuted to the complete extent of the regulation. This habits should cease, and aggressive enforcement and prosecution of the regulation is the perfect deterrent.”
The passenger’s identification has not been launched, and no particulars have been instantly out there about expenses.
Denver Airport Police confirmed the flight was diverted into Denver round 6 p.m. and mentioned the FBI is investigating.
The flight left Denver for Orange County about 9:30 p.m., in response to American Airways.
Reviews of unruly habits on planes, together with violence in opposition to crew members, have elevated for the reason that begin of the pandemic.
Information supplied by the Federal Aviation Administration present 923 investigations have been initiated this yr into violations of particular laws or federal legal guidelines.
The quantity is up from 183 final yr and 146 in 2019. Previous to 2021, essentially the most investigations initiated within the 26-year interval relationship again to 1995 was 310 in 2004.
In Might, a Southwest Airways flight attendant misplaced two enamel after a passenger punched her within the face and pulled her hair, in response to court docket paperwork. The attendant had requested the passenger to lock her seatbelt, stow her tray desk and correctly put on her masks through the remaining descent.
The passenger instructed regulation enforcement that she was appearing in self-defense, in response to court docket paperwork.
She was charged in federal court docket with assault and interference with flight crew members and attendants and has pleaded not responsible, in response to court docket information.
As of Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration has obtained 4,941 experiences of unruly habits by passengers this yr, together with 3,580 experiences of mask-related incidents.
The speed of those incidents has dropped about 50 % since document highs earlier this yr, however FAA Administrator Steve Dickson mentioned in September that progress must proceed.
“This stays a critical security risk, and one incident is one too many,” Dickson mentioned in a written assertion.
The FAA has no authority to prosecute prison instances however can levy fines and applied a zero-tolerance marketing campaign in January that permitted it to situation fines with out warning letters.
This yr, the company has introduced greater than $1 million in fines in opposition to passengers for the allegations of unruly habits.
Jay Blackman and Juliette Arcodia contributed.
