American Airlines Plane Turns Around After Passenger Reportedly Throws Fit Over Meal
An American Airlines flight was forced to turn back around after a disruptive passenger began to frighten other passengers on the way from New York to Milan on Tuesday, April 8, the airline said.
AA Flight 198 departed from John F. Kennedy International Airport around 7 p.m. on Monday, April 7. Four hours into the eight-hour journey, the crew announced that the plane would be heading back to New York.
The decision to return to the departure city came after one passenger became angry because he didn't receive his preferred meal, CBS News reports. He was also informed that he couldn't sit in an exit row with a baby.
'The safety of our customers and team members is our top priority and we expect our customers to comply with federal regulations to follow crew member instructions. We never want to disrupt our customers' travel plans and we thank them for their understanding,' an American Airlines representative said in a statement to PEOPLE.
After the plane was rerouted, it landed safely at JFK at 3:30 a.m., passenger Michael Scigliano told CBS News. The passengers left again on Tuesday at around 11 a.m., 16 hours after their initial takeoff.
CBS News reports that a police source said the man was released without criminal charges.
Related: A Couple Ordered Pringles, a Coke and a Water on Their Flight. Then They Were Escorted Off the Plane by Police
Passenger Krystie Tomlinson told CBS News that she and other passengers 'noticed a scuffle in the back.'
'They were asking around if there were any police officers or Army members, or somebody who could help because there were no air marshals on," Tomlinson said, noting that the passenger in the back 'was charging at the stewardesses.'
'At some point, he charged past all of our seats and tried to barge into the pilot's cabin," Tomlinson continued. "Apparently, the whole thing started because of a meal choice they didn't get. I guess they asked for it ahead of time. They never got exactly what they wanted. They also wanted to sit in an exit row. They had a baby with them, so they told them they couldn't and apparently those two things are what pushed the person over the edge."
"The guy was still in the back of the plane unprotected, unrestrained, which was a little bit scary considering we had a plane full of 300 people and there was no air marshal on board, and we've got this crazy man in the back," Scigliano told the outlet. He also noted that the crew was 'telling everyone that there were technical issues on the plane, which is even scarier.'
Related: Man Arrested After Allegedly Attempting to Open Emergency Exit Doors and Choking a Crew Member During Flight
Both Scigliano and Tomlinson told CBS News the airline did not accommodate passengers once they returned. They noted that they stayed overnight at the airport while they were waiting to depart once again.
"I asked to use the American Airlines lounge to breastfeed and change. They said you can go in if you pay $79," Tomlinson told the outlet. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating the incident.
Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Representatives for the FAA and the New York Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for more information on Wednesday.
Read the original article on People

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Prosecutors Say a Juror Wasn't Honest — Diddy's Team Says That's Not the Real Reason They Want Him Out
The government is seeking to remove a juror in Sean "Diddy" Combs' trial, who the defense claims is among the panel's Black members Alexandra Shapiro, one of Combs' attorneys, said the government's attempt at removing the juror is a "thinly veiled effort to dismiss a Black juror" The trial is in its fifth weekProsecutors in Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex trafficking and racketeering trial, which is in its fifth week, have requested that a juror be dismissed, citing "a lack of candor." On Wednesday, June 11, the lead prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey, told U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian outside the presence of the jury that "it appeared to be a lack of candor with the court that raises serious issues with us." 'We did not want to do this," Comey said. "We were compelled to do that.' One of Combs' attorneys, Alexandra Shapiro, said the defense opposes removing the juror and said the government's attempt at doing so is 'a thinly veiled effort to dismiss a Black juror.' Subramanian said he would address the matter by the end of the week after he had received written submissions from both sides. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Twelve people — eight men and four women — were selected for the jury, and a half-dozen alternates. The jurors range in age from 30 to 74. Their identities are known to the judge and lawyers but won't be made public. Among the six alternates, two are women and four are men. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Split Verdict in Harvey Weinstein Sex Crimes Trial — as Jury Deliberates Final Charge
A New York City jury found Harvey Weinstein guilty on one count of criminal sexual act and not guilty on a second. Three women testified against the disgraced movie mogul Weinstein has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty of one charge of criminal sexual act and not guilty of a second charge, PEOPLE confirms. The jury is still deliberating on the third-degree rape charge involving actress Jessica Mann. Former TV production assistant Miriam Haley, 48, testified that Weinstein, 73, forced oral sex on her at his SoHo apartment in July 2006. Former model Kaja Sokola, 39, also testified that Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in 2006, when she was just 19 years old. Actress Jessica Mann, meanwhile, testified that the former Miramax chief raped her in a New York hotel room in 2013. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Weinstein has been accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of women, and the initial allegations against him in 2017 sparked the global #MeToo movement. He has denied all wrongdoing. In February 2020, Weinstein was convicted on state charges of first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape in New York, and was sentenced to 23 years in prison. However, in April 2024, the New York Court of Appeals overturned his conviction, finding that the trial judge erroneously allowed three women whose allegations were not a part of the criminal case against Weinstein to testify about his alleged 'prior bad acts.' In 2022, Weinstein was convicted of rape and sexual assault in California, a conviction that still stands. Weinstein did not take the stand in his defense at the retrial. In a rare interview Friday with Fox 5's "Good Day New York," Weinstein said he took the advice from his lawyer to stay silent in court, lest the District Attorney "try to rip me apart." He also claimed to have "regrets" about how he "acted immorally," and over what his family had been put through. However, he claimed none of his actions were illegal. NPR reported that Weinstein has recently received treatment for bone marrow cancer. PEOPLE reported in 2024 that he had emergency heart surgery at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to Read the original article on People
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Sherri Papini Says Her 'Poor Mother' Was Taken 'Wildly Out of Context' in Doc: 'She Knows I Was Kidnapped'
In HBO's 'The Curious Case of Sherri Papini,' her mother Loretta Graeff is heard saying "It was not an abduction" Papini claimed during a new episode of 'The Viall Files' podcast that the quote was edited out of context and didn't reflect her mother's true beliefs She said her mother "definitely knows" she was kidnapped, despite Papini's 2022 guilty pleaSherri Papini — the California mom who admitted to faking her 2016 kidnapping — is pushing back on how her mother was portrayed in a new docuseries, claiming a quote that made headlines was taken "wildly out of context." In The Curious Case of Sherri Papini, Papini's mother Loretta Graeff is shown saying: 'It was not an abduction.' The quote appears to show Graeff doubting her daughter's version of events — a sentiment echoed by law enforcement and federal prosecutors, who ultimately revealed that Papini had orchestrated the entire disappearance herself. But now, Papini says the scene doesn't tell the whole story. 'My poor mother… when you don't have control over your own audio and it gets cut and clipped… it can be taken wildly out of context,' Papini, 42, said during a new episode of The Viall Files podcast. Pressed on whether her mother had changed her mind after initially expressing skepticism, Papini replied: 'Oh, no. My mom definitely knows that I was held captive and that I was kidnapped.' She added that while things were 'very confusing in the beginning,' her mother came to understand what 'actually happened' — and that the quote used in the documentary omitted that supposed clarification. The docuseries recounts the story that once gripped the nation: Papini disappeared while jogging near her Redding, Calif., home in November 2016. She resurfaced 22 days later on Thanksgiving morning, battered and shackled, claiming she had been abducted at gunpoint by two masked Hispanic women. That story unraveled in 2022 when federal investigators revealed Papini had been hiding out with a former boyfriend. She was charged with mail fraud and making false statements, later pleading guilty in a plea deal that sent her to prison for 18 months. She was released in 2023 to community confinement and remains under supervised release. In recent interviews — including the HBO project and her podcast appearance — Papini has positioned herself less as a manipulative hoaxster and more as a woman misrepresented by a hostile media, overzealous prosecutors and edited footage. The 42-year-old divorced mother-of-two says that her kidnapping wasn't a hoax, and that she only lied about the identity of her purported captor: her ex-boyfriend. She said she feared for her safety, and that her ex-husband Keith Papini would revoke her access to their children if she told the whole truth. (Papini's ex-boyfriend, James Reyes, has never been charged with a crime. He declined PEOPLE's request for comment in May, around when the documentary began airing.) Her alleged capture was preceded by a months-long emotional affair with James, she said, and she felt partially responsible for her circumstances after "leading him on," she said in the documentary. "I agreed with James to make up that someone else did it [in exchange for my release]," Papini claims. "It wasn't the right choice and I know that... I wish I would've told the truth from the day I was in the hospital — that it was James." Related: Why Sherri Papini's Own Mother Doesn't Believe Her New Story About Supposed Kidnapping Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. She calls the HBO project a 'trial by media,' noting that she never faced a criminal trial, and describes herself as living under a 'life sentence' of judgment. She also alleges that key evidence — such as interrogation audio in which, she claims, law enforcement guided her ex-boyfriend's responses — was left out of the final cut. Papini says she hopes her mother will publicly clarify her purported position if given the chance. 'I think given the opportunity, sure,' she said. But for many, the words spoken on-camera in the HBO series stand in sharp contrast to Papini's revised narrative. Read the original article on People