Man thrown off Delta flight after striking passenger and flight attendant
A Brazilian passenger was arrested on board a Delta Airlines flight after assaulting a flight attendant and passenger on Tuesday.
The pilot on the flight from São Paulo to New York had to divert the plane to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where US federal agents took the man into custody.
The passenger allegedly struck a crew member and another passenger during a flight in the middle of the night after the flight had departed from Guarulhos Airport, the airline told Brazilian news outlet G1.
Other passengers who witnessed the altercation said the man initiated the fight, but it was unknown who he had assaulted first.
He was restrained onboard the aircraft before the captain touched down in Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan.
Video footage shows the man being escorted off the plane by two agents.
The flight stopped in San Juan for 90 minutes before jetting off to its intended destination of New York.
“Delta has zero tolerance for inappropriate behaviout at our airports and aircraft, as nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and personnel,” the airline said in a statement.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) figures show that, as of 12 July, there have been 1,634 reports of unruly passenger behaviour on US flights.
The agency has initiated 555 investigations and 359 enforcement action cases.
The FAA can propose a fine of up to $37,000 per violation for unruly passenger cases, with the possibility that one incident can result in multiple law violations.
In April, the FAA proposed its largest ever fines against two passengers for alleged unruly behaviour.
A fine of $81,950 was suggested after a passenger allegedly hit, spat at, bit and tried to kick a flight attendant on an American Airlines flight from Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas to Charlotte, North Carolina in July 2021.
Another fine of $77,272 was proposed after a woman allegedly attempted to hug and kiss the passenger seated next to her and assaulted crew members on a Delta Air Lines flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta in July 2021.
The two fines are part of the approximately $2m in fines the FAA has proposed since the beginning of this year.
