A Delta Air Lines flight from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) had to be diverted because of a recalcitrant passenger. The flight, originally scheduled to fly to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS), had to divert its route and land at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS). The plane arrived just before 9:00 p.m. local time and was immediately intercepted by law enforcement upon arrival and the passenger was removed from the plane.
Delta Flight 134
The executing aircraft was an Airbus A330-200 and due to this incident, the aircraft reached its destination Amsterdam almost three hours late.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy flying
The airline did not specifically say what the unruly passenger who caused the plane to divert had done. The airlines also said it was standard practice due to similar circumstances. In a statement, the airline said:
“We have zero tolerance for unruly behavior on our aircraft and apologize to our valued customers and crew for this unfortunate delay in their travels.”
Another incident in an increase in angry or aggressive passengers
The Delta Air Lines passenger who was removed from the plane for being unruly follows a recent trend of many passengers causing diversions due to bad behavior on flights.
Earlier last week, a disruptive Frontier Airlines passenger was “voted out” of her flight. Frontier Airlines Flight F9 807 flew from Trenton Mercer Airport to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The incident began with an altercation between a couple and flight attendants. The initial argument began after the couple were unhappy with their seating arrangement and wanted to be closer to the front of the plane.
Shortly after the disagreement, another passenger made several comments about the original couple’s behavior on board the flight. This led to major disagreements between the couple and the other passenger. Because of this argument, the plane was detained at Trenton Mercer Airport and did not take off on time. Eventually, as the argument escalated, flight attendants called security officials to board the plane and escort the unruly couple off the plane.
Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock
After the couple was forced to exit the plane, other passengers took matters into their own hands and voted on the status of the third passenger. Ultimately, the majority of passengers raised their hands and voted that the passenger should also be removed from the plane.
Several other incidents involving disruptive passengers have also happened in recent months. Jet2 recently announced that they have banned a passenger for life.
The passenger forced his flight, which originally flew from Glasgow International Airport (GLA) to Dalaman Airport (DLM), to be diverted to Sofia International Airport (SOF) in Bulgaria. The passenger allegedly behaved “in such an appalling manner” that the flight crew was forced to divert the plane. The police hit the plane to offload the passenger.
Another recent incident involves a disgruntled passenger who called a bomb threat after missing his flight. United Airlines has suspended another passenger who assaulted an employee at San Francisco International Airport. Earlier last week, three other passengers were escorted off a Jetstar flight after a heated disagreement.