A Delta Air Lines flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Iowa after a passenger tried to open an emergency exit door in midair — and got into a fight with a flight attendant.
Delta Connection Flight 3612, operated by SkyWest Airlines, was about a third of the way through its flight from Omaha to Detroit on Thursday evening when the passenger tried to open the door in the exit row as the crew and other passengers tried to stop him, according to WDIV.
The passenger was removed from the flight. WDIVThe pilot radioed to the control tower at Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids around 7 p.m. that the passenger was “in a fight with our flight attendant right now, trying to open the emergency exit,” according to a recording by the website LiveATC.net, CNN reported.
Passengers and crew stopped the passenger from opening the door. He was arrested when the plane safely landed and taxied to its gate at the Cedar Rapids airport.
Law enforcement officers aboard the plane. WDIV
Video shows a man in a white T-shirt and handcuffs being escorted off the plane by police. He was not identified and it is not clear if he has been charged.
Mario Nikprelaj, 23, was arrested for the in flight meltdown Linn County Jail“SkyWest has zero tolerance for unruly behavior as safety for our customers and crew is our top priority,” the airline said in a statement.
