A disorderly passenger reportedly forced an emergency landing during an American Airlines flight from Arizona to Minnesota on Friday as a result of him causing a scene in the aircraft and later lighting up a joint in the cabin.
Before lighting the joint, the passenger allegedly shared he had done cocaine and proceeded to lock himself in the plane bathroom.
It is said that about an hour into the flight from Phoenix to Minneapolis, the pilot of the aircraft indicated the existence of a “security issue in the back,” which demanded an emergency landing in Denver, Colorado.
TMZ reports that passengers were very concerned as a result of this intercom announcement and, therefore, had a hard time determining what exactly was taking place on the airplane.
People, thus, began discussing the fact that someone allegedly had said they had ‘done cocaine’. At that moment, as per TMZ sources, a man with dreadlocks was seen rushing towards the plane bathroom, locking himself up in the end.
Worried flight attendants assembled themselves around the bathroom door, trying to persuade the man to exit the bathroom with no success.
Reportedly, the man’s stay in the bathroom lasted around 10 minutes, as he returned to his seat 5 minutes before the emergency landing took place.
After landing, the man, who was described to appear ‘jittery’, was detained by police officers and EMTs who came on board in order to resolve the situation.
American Airlines Emergency Landing After Passenger Smokes Joint https://t.co/ZRrp3umOEX
— TMZ (@TMZ) September 21, 2019
While this was taking place, TMZ reports that the man proceeded to light a joint and began smoking it while still in the cabin. The pilot, in turn, spoke over the intercom once again, asking the passengers from the first 13 rows to exit the plane, so that the man could be removed from the aircraft.
Nonetheless, this led to further complications as the man punched a passenger on their way out of the plane.
Finally, police officers and EMTs were able to remove him from the aircraft, handcuffed him, and later placed him on a medical stretcher. In the video footage available below, it can be heard how the man demands to be freed, as he is screaming: ‘Take it off, it hurts. I’ll f*cking kill you!’
An American Airlines representative told TMZ:
“Flight 2408 diverted due to a disruptive passenger. Law enforcement met the flight, and the aircraft re-departed.”
Fortunately, two hours after the incident, the plane successfully continued its journey to Minneapolis.
Video footage of the incident is available for you to watch below!
