United Airlines plane to Israel turns back hours into flight due to unruly passenger
A United Airlines flight from New Jersey to Tel Aviv, Israel, turned around just hours into its trip because of an unruly traveler over the weekend.
United Flight 90 diverted back to Newark Liberty International Airport on Sunday soon after taking off "due to a disruptive passenger," according to the airline.
"Law enforcement met the aircraft and removed the passenger," United told USA TODAY in an emailed statement. "We rebooked our customers onto a new flight that departed Sunday evening."
The flight reversed course less than three hours after departure, according to the flight-tracking website FlightRadar24. The passenger reportedly sat in a seat assigned to crew members after finding no bathroom available, according to Israeli news outlet Ynet.
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United did not share specifics with USA TODAY about what kind of incident occurred.
Another United flight to Tel Aviv turned around after takeoff last year because of disruptive passengers.
The rate of unruly-passenger incidents has dropped more than 80% after hitting record highs in 2021, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency received 2,455 reports of unruly passengers in 2022, down from 5,973 the previous year.
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Disruptive passenger prompts United Airlines flight to turn around
