Passenger On Delta Airlines Flight Tries To Breach Cockpit: Recent Controversies Airline Has Been Involved In

A Delta Air Lines flight had to make an emergency turn around soon after taking off from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for its destination in Beijing on Thursday after a passenger attempted to breach the cockpit, two witnesses familiar with the incident told CNN.

The passenger taken into custody is said to be a 23-year-old man from Florida, according to the FBI.

The aircraft, Delta flight 129, a twin-aisle Boeing 767-300ER made a safe return to Seattle around 7:40 p.m. EDT on Thursday, while being air escorted by Department of Defense. Three people were injured during the incident on the flight, including one crew member and two passengers, the witnesses told CNN. The flight reportedly turned back while it was flying over the western coast of Canada.

Read: Delta Systems Outage: About 170 Domestic Flights Canceled, Airline Issues Apology

Delta Airlines released a statement saying: “Flight 129 returned to Seattle following a security incident with a passenger. The passenger was restrained onboard and was removed from the flight by law enforcement without further incident when the aircraft arrived back in Seattle. The flight is scheduled to re-depart for Beijing later this evening.”

At the same time, Delta Airlines, FBI and Port of Seattle Police said the incident onboard Delta flight 129 was not indicative of being a "national security threat."

This is not the first time Delta Airlines has experienced passenger-related issues though, having had a few this year alone.

In May, a Minnesota woman claimed the airline held her dog "hostage" at a Guatemalan airport for almost 33 hours and had demanded the owner pay $3,000 for the puppy to be returned. This was after the woman had paid the same amount to a private company called Pet Air Carrier to ship her German shepherd named Bunny, to Central America.

But when the woman's husband attempted to collect the puppy from the airport at La Aurora International in Guatemala City, Delta claimed they did not have the proper paperwork, according to Marketwatch.

Read: Delta Cancels $4B Order For 18 Boeing 787 Dreamliner Aircraft Inherited From Northwest

Another incident on April 18 aboard a Delta Airlines flight raised concerns when a man from Milwaukee, Wisconsin was forcibly removed from the aircraft as he wanted to urinate urgently. Other passengers recorded the video of the man's ordeal while he tried to explain the situation to the authorities and apologized to them.

Despite such incidents possibly raising question marks over Delta's operations, the airline does still enjoy a good reputation among its customers.

In April, TripAdvisor released a list of the best airlines to fly in the world and its first Traveler's Choice Awards, in which the Top Major North American Airline position was awarded to Delta, while American and United Airlines did not even make the final list.

TripAdvisor created the list after carefully analyzing customer reviews and online feedback online all the major and mid-size airlines in the world. On the basis of customer service and several other factors, fifty airlines were recognized around the world.

“The airline industry is investing billions of dollars in new aircraft and service enhancements to differentiate the flying experience and these awards recognize the carriers offering the very best experiences and value to the traveling public,” Bryan Saltzburg, the senior vice president and general manager for TripAdvisor Flights, said in April, after they revealed the list.