Unruly Passenger Assaults Flight Attendant Over Mask Policy, American Airlines Diverts Flight

An unruly passenger assaulted an American Airlines flight attendant over a mask mandate Wednesday night, causing the flight to be diverted.

The American Airlines flight from JFK in New York to John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, Calif., was diverted to Denver International Airport on Wednesday night to arrest the passenger and to seek medical treatment for the attendant. Neither the airline nor local authorities have released the names of the suspect nor the attendant.

After the flight landed around 6:30 p.m. MDT, local authorities took the passenger into custody and transported the flight attendant to a local hospital in Denver. No other injuries were reported. The flight resumed at 9:30 p.m. MDT from Denver to John Wayne Airport.

According to witnesses, the incident occurred about halfway through the trip and the flight attendant sustained no major injuries.

“We are outraged by the reports of what took place on board. Acts of violence against our team members are not tolerated by American Airlines. We are working with law enforcement to support our team member and pursue prosecution, and the individual involved in this incident will not be allowed to travel with us in the future,” American Airlines officials said in a statement to CBS Los Angeles.

As of Tuesday, of the 4,941 unruly passenger reports since Jan. 17, 3,580 of them were mask-related incidents. The Federal Aviation Administration states that “the rate of unruly passenger incidents has dropped approximately 50 percent since record-highs in early 2021, but there remains more work to do.”