After a passenger—an off-duty airline employee—began attacking two flight attendants and making threats, a Delta Air Lines flight headed from Los Angeles to Atlanta diverted to Oklahoma City Friday night.
The man, who ABC7 reports as 34-year-old Stephon Jamar Duncan, was an off-duty Delta employee and can be seen in a scuffle with several people toward the front of the plane by the cabin door in a viral video showing the altercation. At the end of the video, passengers and crew members restrain the man in the plane’s aisle. The man reportedly made “terroristic threats” to “take down the plane,” the station reports.
Delta confirmed the incident on Flight 1730, and police told ABC7 that Duncan attacked two flight attendants before attacking an off-duty pilot. Passengers were not injured and the plane headed back to Atlanta after being cleared.
Officials told the station that Duncan had been exhibiting signs of mental health issues and is being questioned by the FBI, while he’s expected to be charged with two counts of assault and battery.
This is the third similar incident from a Delta flight in the last two weeks. Just recently, another Delta flight had to make an emergency landing after a passenger attempted to breach the cockpit. He, too, was eventually restrained.
“Thanks to the crew and passengers of Delta Flight 1730 (LAX to ATL) who assisted in detaining an unruly passenger as the flight diverted to Oklahoma City (OKC),” a statement from Delta reads. “The aircraft landed without incident and the passenger was removed by law enforcement. We apologize to our customers for the delay and any additional inconvenience this caused.”
