Delta flight diverted after passenger enters cockpit
“Terrifying but our Delta flight attendant Christopher Williams acted quickly”
A Delta Airlines flight was diverted on Friday after a passenger attempted to breach the cockpit on the way to Nashville from Los Angeles.
Delta Flight 386 was forced to divert in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the unruly passenger was then apprehended by law enforcement, an airport spokesperson said.
Reuters reported that the Boeing 737-900 had 162 passengers and six crew members onboard and that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Albuquerque was responding to the incident and found that there was “no threat to the public at this time.”
According to the outlet, no passengers were injured and the flight resumed its trip to Nashville following the passenger’s arrest. In video captured by a passenger, the man could be seen lying facedown on his stomach in the aisle yelling, “Stop this plane” as he was restrained.
A flight attendant named Christopher Williams assisted in carrying the man to the back of the plane and was heard saying, “I need a few people — man or woman I do not care. We need him to go all the way towards the back.”
“Are you going to drag him back?” a woman can be heard asking.
“We’re going to drag him back,” he responded.
Jessica Robertson, who was on the flight and recorded the incident, praised Williams for his efforts and suggested that the airlines recognize his heroic act.
“I was on this flight in the 3rd row – witness to everything. Terrifying but our @Delta flight attendant Christopher Williams acted quickly. So did several passengers around me. Safe but still in Albuquerque. Hope @delta gives Chris every bit of recognition and bonus he deserves,” she tweeted on Friday.
She continued with a video clip of the passenger’s apprehension, adding, “This was our view from the 3rd row right after the @Delta attendants and passengers apprehended the person who attempted to get into the cockpit. He was screaming ‘Stop the plane.’”
Ryan Healy replied to Robertson’s thread with a similar experience with Delta Airlines, saying, “I experienced something very similar on a Delta flight from San Antonio to LAX about 5 years ago. We pushed the guy into my seat in row 2 and diverted to Tucson while being escorted by two F-16s. Scary stuff.”
@NoKapRich shared a photo of Williams with his head down with the caption, “@Delta this man needs an award…just saved the plane. LA flight to Nashville…”
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in December a passenger was given a $52,500 fine during a flight from Honolulu to Seattle after hitting a flight attendant twice and threatening him.
Steve Dickson, a former Delta Airlines executive, said in a statement earlier this year that the airline will be doling out “strong enforcement action against any passenger who disrupts or threatens the safety of a flight, with penalties ranging from fines to jail time.”
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