Delta Flight Makes Emergency Landing After Unruly Passenger Punches Man, Attempts To Access Cockpit

A Delta Air Lines flight was forced to make an emergency landing at a Texas airport on Wednesday (Feb 18) after an "unruly" passenger attempted to access the cockpit and punched a man in the head mid-flight. Delta Flight 2557, bound for Atlanta, was rerouted to Houston's Hobby Airport, 17 minutes after takeoff, as the pilot raised an alarm.

"We had a passenger get up and try to access the cockpit," the pilot could be heard in a radio recording with air traffic control (ATC), according to a report in CNN. "Can you coordinate and have security standing by?"

85 passengers and five crew members were on board when the passenger, believed to be suffering from a mental health episode, started behaving erratically. Passenger Josh Lemastus told 11Alive that the man bumped into him and started "wailing" on his head.

"I'm just sitting there, and a guy walks aggressively by me and aggressively back, and he bumps into my shoulder and starts wailing on my head," said Lemastus.

"Never seen the gentleman in my life. He started screaming at the guy behind me, and kind of like in tongues. And then everyone assumed that he was just kind of not mentally there."

After the pilot made sure the cockpit was secure, he requested that police and paramedics meet once the plane landed back at the airport.

"(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 told ATC.

Emergency vehicles accompanied the plane to the gate. "They are coming to the gate. The police are there waiting. Follow the aircraft to the ramp," an air traffic controller told emergency responders.

Also Read | Norwegian Scientist Gives Himself Brain Damage, Trying To Disprove 'Havana Syndrome'

Delta issued a statement in the aftermath, emphasising the safety of passengers, adding that the man approached the crew but "did not make contact with or attempt to access the flight deck".

"The safety of our customers and crew is paramount, and Delta has zero tolerance for unruly behaviour. We apologise to our customers for this experience and delay in their travels," the airline said.

The flight re-departed and arrived in Atlanta roughly an hour and a half behind schedule.