NEED TO KNOW
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A Delta flight traveling from Houston to Atlanta made an emergency landing after a passenger attempted to access the cockpit
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The pilot declared an emergency just a few minutes into Flight 2557 due to a customer “exhibiting unruly and unlawful behavior towards other customers,” the airline confirmed
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Upon making an emergency landing back in Houston, first responders detained the passenger
A Delta flight made an emergency landing after an “unruly” passenger attempted to get into the cockpit, according to air traffic control audio.
On Wednesday, Feb. 18, the pilot of Delta flight 2557, which was traveling from Houston to Atlanta with 85 customers and five crew members on board, declared an emergency around 5:25 a.m. due to a customer “exhibiting unruly and unlawful behavior towards other customers,” a spokesperson for the airline confirmed to PEOPLE.
While the passenger allegedly made an attempt to enter the cockpit of the Boeing 717, Delta confirmed that they did not make contact with the flight deck. The flight made an emergency landing back at William P. Hobby Airport around 17 minutes after takeoff and was met at the gate by law enforcement.
“We had a passenger get up and try to access the cockpit,” the pilot said during the incident, as heard in an audio recording with air traffic control captured by Broadcastify, per CNN. “Can you coordinate and have security standing by?”
“(He is) in cuffs in the back of the aircraft, but he did assault another passenger, so we would like that other passenger checked out,” the pilot continued.
In a video of the incident obtained by local outlet ABC13, a male passenger could be seen wandering down the aisle of the plane while loudly repeating something unintelligible. He then appears to climb into a row of seats as crew members struggle to hold him back, calmly repeating, “Sir!”
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Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty
Eventually, a number of passengers got up out of their seats to try and help the situation as those closest to the man seemingly struggled to keep the unruly passenger under control.
“We gotta get cuffs,” one of the flight attendants said in the video, after which another concerned passenger noted of a fellow customer, “She’s got a baby right here.”
Upon landing back in Houston, first responders detained the man and the aircraft re-departed shortly after. According to the airline, the flight later arrived in Atlanta with a 90-minute delay.
Read the original article on People
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