'Unruly behavior' by a passenger forced a Southwest Airlines flight to make an emergency landing

• A Southwest Airlines flight made an emergency landing in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Saturday.

• A spokesperson told CBS News that the diversion was caused by "unruly behavior from a passenger."

• The flight was heading from Houston, Texas, to Columbus, Ohio.

A Southwest Airlines flight from Houston, Texas, to Columbus, Ohio, had to make an emergency landing on Saturday following a passenger disturbance.

A spokesperson for the airline told Insider: "Flight 192 traveling from Houston to Columbus safely diverted to Little Rock after our Crew observed disruptive behavior from a passenger on the flight."

Per CBS News, the crew declared an emergency due to "unruly behavior from a passenger."

The plane landed in Little Rock, Arkansas at about 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, and the "unruly" passenger was removed from the flight by local authorities, according to Southwest Airlines.

The Federal Aviation Authority told CBS News that the passenger, whose has not been named, was met by officers from the Transportation Security Administration, as well as local police.

Potential charges facing the passenger have not yet been revealed and the nature of the disturbance was unclear.

Southwest Airlines told Insider that, following the passenger's removal, the plane departed from Little Rock and landed safely in the original destination of Columbus, Ohio.

Disruptive passengers are a regular headache for flight crew, with 2021 was the worst year on record for "unruly-passenger incidents", according to the FAA. There were 5,981 such reports, leading to 1,113 investigations, and 350 "enforcement actions."

It was revealed last year that Delta Airlines is seeking to launch a national "no fly" list of banned passengers to reduce incidents of disruptive behavior on its aircraft.

The TSA and the FAA did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider.

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