Delta flight forced to make emergency landing after ‘unruly passenger’ attacks flight attendants
A Delta flight headed to Atlanta from Los Angeles was diverted to Oklahoma City on Friday night after a passenger attacked two flight attendants and threatened to bring down the plane, police said.
The passenger, identified as Stephon Jamar Duncan, was detained by several passengers, including an off-duty pilot, Oklahoma City police spokesman Jermaine Johnson told ABC News.
“Thanks to the crew and passengers of Delta Flight 1730 (LAX to ATL) who assisted in detaining an unruly passenger as the flight diverted to Oklahoma City (OKC),” Delta Air Lines said in a statement Saturday.
“The aircraft landed without incident and the passenger was removed by law enforcement. We apologize to our customers for the delay and any additional inconvenience this caused,” the statement added.
One passenger posted a video on social media saying that the man had “attempted to open plane door mid flight,” but a Delta spokesperson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that was not the case.
Another video, which was posted on Twitter and quickly went viral, apparently shows a number of passengers trying to restrain the man. The caption of the video, posted by Twitter user @alif--burns, reads “someone tried hijacking our plane from LAX to ATL,” which is also not accurate, according to Delta.
After the plane landed in Oklahoma City, the suspect was taken into custody by local police. Investigators say the suspect was “exhibiting signs of mental health issues.”
He was later transported to a local hospital after complaining of chest pains, a police spokesperson said.
He was questioned by the FBI and faces two possible charges of assault and battery, WSB-TV reported.
The delayed flight landed in Atlanta early Saturday morning.
