An American Airlines flight attendant reportedly used a coffee pot to subdue an unruly passenger who attempted to break into a plane cockpit and then tried to open one of the doors, forcing the scheduled flight from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. on Sunday afternoon to divert to Kansas City, the airline said.
“He’s trying to get in the cockpit,” the pilot told air traffic controllers. “We have two armed people on board that are securing the man right now,” the pilot explained, according to ABC News.
American Airlines said in a statement that “the flight landed safely at MCI at 2:28 p.m. local time, and law enforcement was requested to meet the flight on arrival.”
Pictures and videos from the scene shared on social media show the man being held down and FBI investigators speaking to fellow passengers.
According to accounts from those on board, a flight attendant used a coffee pot to stop the traveler from opening the door and passengers held the man as the plane was diverted.
Passenger Jake Smith said he was starting to make his way to the toilet when he saw a flight attendant ‘running full speed down the aisle’.
Fellow traveler Karen Alston said she was watching a film when the lights above her head suddenly turned on, and she saw a number of people rushing towards the front of the plane.
‘When people started standing up, I knew something was wrong,’ she told the Daily Beast.
After the flight was diverted the passengers were rebooked onto a new flight o Washington DC.
"He's trying to get in the cockpit."
Multiple people restrained an unruly passenger who allegedly attempted to enter the cockpit, causing a flight to be diverted; witnesses say a flight attendant finally used a coffee pot to subdue him. https://t.co/g5pGbTCxd0 pic.twitter.com/VlSbkdp0C2
— ABC News (@ABC) February 15, 2022
Police have boarded flight #AA1775 from #LA to #DC which made an emergency and rapid landing in Kansas. Flight descended at 5000 fps. It felt like the plane was free falling and many feared the worst because people weren’t fully aware of what was unfolding pic.twitter.com/qyDHSrdUqF
— Mouaz Moustafa (@SoccerMouaz) February 13, 2022
