A Delta Airlines airplane flying from San Antonio to Los Angeles made an emergency landing under escort by F-16s at the Tucson International Airport on Wednesday afternoon after a passenger made a threat to the flight crew, officials said.
The Compass Airlines plane landed in Tucson shortly before 4 p.m. and was met by a group of law enforcement officers, including airport police, Border Patrol and the FBI. One passenger, a man, was taken off the plane.
βOne suspect has been detained. This diversion was caused because there was a report of interference with the flight crew,β said Jessie Butler, a Tucson Airport Authority spokeswoman.
βThe aircraft has been deemed safe,β said Butler, adding that 80 passengers were on board. The passengers were taken off the plane, re-screened and were expected to re-board the plane and continue to Los Angeles, she said.
Capt. Scott Bader of the Tucson Airport Authority Police Department said there were no injuries in the incident. The man taken off the plane was turned over to the FBI, he said.
Video tweeted by a passenger, Ryan Healy, showed officers ordering a man off the plane. An older man sitting with the passenger also got up from his seat and told officers he was the younger manβs guardian.
In a series of tweets, Healy said the man was unruly on the plane and wouldnβt sit down. He said the man was apparently having βsome sort of breakdown.β He said other passengers tried to help the man.
Several passengers tweeted the plane was escorted into Tucson by a pair of military F-16 jets. They photographed the jets on the tarmac.
Bader said the two F-16s were sent to intercept the plane at the request of the βfederal government.β The planes are with the 162nd Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard, stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
He said in his 10 years at the airport this is the first time he remembers where military aircraft were sent to intercept a civilian airplane because of an in-flight incident.
