American Airlines Flight From Los Angeles Diverts To Denver To Remove Unruly Passenger

A Boston-bound American Airlines plane flying from Los Angeles was diverted and grounded for 45 minutes at Denver International Airport Tuesday. An unruly passenger was removed from the plane and arrested.

The red-eye flight carried 169 passengers took off from Los Angeles at 11:40 p.m. The Denver Police boarded the plane at 2:45 a.m. local time and arrested the man, according to Matt Miller, the spokesman for American Airlines. The plane finally landed in Boston more than two hours late.

The captain of every passenger flight has the authority to use his or her discretion about when to divert flights, Miller said. Flights can be diverted for anything — from a passenger having a health emergency to a terrorist threat.

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In the comments section of the Instagram picture posted by Pete Isaac who was a passenger on the plane, Isaac responded to an inquiry about the events in the plane.

"In general, I thought the crew handled themselves very well, the pilot communicated well with passengers, and the police were calm, direct, and the gentleman exited the aircraft without any incident that I observed," he said, adding that has was in the back of the plane and only observed bits and pieces of the event.

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The passengers of the plane interviewed by NBC 4 Los Angeles gave alternating takes on why the man — who was said to be either in his 20s or 30s — was arrested. One woman said she suspected his behavior was irregular due to drinking, a man said that he was "trying to get to the restroom" and another passenger, Bita Beck, said that he was "being very aggressive with the stewardess."

"He was cornering her," Beck continued.

"The plane did land safely and depart safely," said Daria Serna, DIA spokeswoman to the local paper, the Denver Post, adding only that the man was being "disruptive" and deferred other questions to the Denver Police.

So far, the Denver Police have yet to release the identity of the arrested man.

American Airlines have been involved in a scandal June 14 scandal that medical professional's handling of passengers. Passenger Theresa Hines was removed from a flight going from Dallas to St. Paul, Minnesota. During her medical emergency, officials were criticized for dragging her in front of all 146 other passengers when she was partially clothed, according to a report by Fox News. She later died at the hospital.