American Airlines Diverts DC Flight To Missouri As ‘Unruly Passenger’ Tries To Enter Cockpit

An American Airlines flight headed for Washington, D.C. was diverted to the Kansas City International Airport in Missouri on Sunday afternoon after an “unruly passenger” interfered with crew members as he allegedly attempted to get into the cockpit and open the plane door. The FBI is investigating the incident.

American Airlines flight 1775 left Los Angeles for Washington, D.C. Sunday afternoon and landed safely at the Kansas City International Airport in Missouri at 2.28 p.m. CST. In a statement to CNN, the airline said the flight was diverted “due to an unruly passenger.”

Washington, D.C. resident Mouaz Moustafa, who was on the diverted flight, told CNN that he saw one crew member telling another flight attendant to turn the lights on as the plane made a swift descent.

Moustafa said the passenger was trying to enter the cockpit and open the plane door. People worked together to hold the passenger down, and one flight attendant hit the disruptive passenger in the head with a coffee pot, Moustafa said. Law enforcement was called in to apprehend the passenger upon the plane’s arrival at the Kansas City airport.

The airline in the statement added that it is “grateful to our crew members, who are consistently dedicated to the safety and care of our customers who handled the circumstances with the utmost skill and professionalism.”

Twitter user @SoccerMouaz posted a video of the events that took place after crew members and other passengers subdued the individual on the flight. “The man was bleeding as the police in this video are taking off the flight after landing in Kansas,” the post reads.

An audio recording of the pilot’s report from live air traffic control broadcaster LiveATC confirmed that the passenger was interfering with the flight. “Yeah, he’s trying to get into the cockpit, American 1775,” the pilot said.

The recent flight diversion incident came just days after an American flight from North Carolina to Los Angeles was diverted to New Mexico on Feb. 9 following a threat from a passenger. At that time, the airline said the diversion took place “following a passenger disruption in which a threatening statement was made toward a crew member.”

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said there have been 394 “unruly passenger reports” as of Feb. 8. Of the said incidents, there have been 255 mask-related disruptions. There have been 93 investigations initiated due to such incidents, the agency said.