Passengers Disturbed Aircraft Crew: Flight Diverted, Perpetrators Immediately Arrested By FBI

JAKARTA - An American Airlines flight was diverted to Kansas City International Airport in Missouri on Sunday afternoon last week, due to a "rogue passenger", the airline said in a statement.

"American Airlines flight 1775 on service from Los Angeles (LAX) to Washington, DC (DCA), was diverted to Kansas City (MCI) due to a rogue passenger", said the statement, which was provided to CNN, as quoted February 17.

"The flight landed safely at MCI at 2:28 p.m. local time, and law enforcement was asked to be on standby upon arrival of the aircraft", he added.

"We are grateful to our crew members, who are consistently dedicated to the safety and care of our customers and who handle the situation with the utmost skill and professionalism."

Meanwhile, Kansas City Aviation Department spokesman, Joe McBride, told CNN there was "a passenger disturbing the flight crew", adding that the incident would fall under the jurisdiction of the FBI.

The FBI itself confirmed the incident in a statement to CNN, adding the individual had been taken into custody.

"The flight was diverted because a rogue passenger harassed the flight crew. The person has been detained. No further information is available at this time", the FBI said.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also confirmed to CNN that flight crews reported passenger disruption aboard the Airbus A321.

Mouaz Moustafa, an eyewitness and a resident of Washington, DC, was on the plane and told CNN he saw a flight attendant yell at another flight attendant to turn on the lights. The plane began to descend rapidly, said Moustafa.

More people moved to the front of the plane to help hold passengers, Moustafa said. Moustafa told CNN that passengers tried to get into the cockpit and open the plane door, and a flight attendant used a coffee pot to hit the man in the head.

When the plane landed, the police and the FBI came, Moustafa said. Passengers were rescheduled on another flight.

To note, according to FAA data, 2021 was a bad year for rogue passenger behavior in the United States, with 5,981 reports of rogue passengers recorded by the agency as of December 31. Of these, 4,290, almost 72 percent, were related to mask incidents.