An “unruly” first-class passenger allegedly attempted to break into the cockpit of an American Airlines flight on Wednesday because she was furious over not receiving a drink, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in North Carolina.
A security issue involving a disruptive passenger caused American Eagle Flight 3444 from Jacksonville, Florida, to Washington, DC, to be diverted to Raleigh-Durham International Airport at around 3:40 p.m., according to a statement from the airline.
Using information from the Raleigh/Wake City-County Bureau of Identification, CNN reported that Tiffany Miles, 36, was detained on a misdemeanour charge and later freed on bond.
According to CNN, police said Miles “attempted to breach the cockpit” and was “being somewhat restrained by the flight crew and other passengers” in radio communications from Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority Police.
She allegedly charged the cockpit door, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
According to traveller Kara Rosario, who spoke to ABC 11, Miles became irate when her drink wasn’t brought to her.
She claimed that when the flight attendants attempted to defuse the situation, a another passenger stood up to assist them.
“He heard the commotion and he went up to first class to assist and see if he could help at all,” Rosario told the outlet.
“He wasn’t a marshal at all or police officer, just a citizen who was trying to help defuse the situation. You could feel that we were in it together and were willing to do what was needed but the gentleman behind me was the first to get up and take matters into his own hands,” she said.
“The FBI is currently conducting interviews to gather the facts and will consult with the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of North Carolina to determine if federal charges will be filed,” FBI spokeswoman Shelley Lynch said.
“Safety and security are our top priority, and we thank our passengers for their cooperation and our team members for their professionalism in managing a challenging circumstance,” American Airlines representative Derek Walls told ABC 11 in a statement.
In a tweet sent on Wednesday night, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated that he had been informed of “a Level 4 disruption” on the flight.
According to the FAA, a Level 4 interruption is a “attempted or actual breach of the flight deck.”
The organisation declared that it is developing a rule that would mandate the installation of a second cockpit barrier on new aircraft.
“Although the rule languished under the prior administration, we made progress last year to require new planes to have a second barrier to the flight deck. The final regulation will be published as soon as possible, the FAA stated in a statement.
