Latest news with #Flight704
Metro
2 days ago
- Metro
Unruly flyer is 'picked up like a child' and restrained by fellow passenger
An unruly flyer was restrained by a fellow passenger after he began dropping racial slurs. A flight bound for Los Angeles turned into mayhem when a man allegedly began behaving violently towards other passengers, forcing the captain to make an emergency landing. The row escalated when the man allegedly shouted racial slurs on board the Breeze Airways flight MX704. Witnesses claimed the tattooed man shouted 'F-bombs and N-bombs' while waving his skateboard. The captain was reportedly forced to make an emergency landing in Colorado after the incident on Wednesday. Cabin crews tried to restrain him after he swung his skateboard and behaved violently, and he also allegedly threw litter on the plane floor. Another passenger described the man as 'this Tony Hawk wannabe from Outer Banks, North Carolina, with a skateboard had too many Bloody Marys this morning.' Footage shows a flight attendant telling the man – who continues to smile through the altercation – to sit down repeatedly. Unable to get through to the man, she asks other passengers if anyone could help her use the restraint on the man, Daily Mail reports. Suddenly, a man named Ray, a 6'6 former American football player in high school, stood up and picked up the unruly man by his armpits. Ray told the man to 'sit your a** down' as the flight attendant and other passengers cheered. The hero of the plane told ABC that he just wanted to get him to sit down as 'my son was on there and there were other kids on there.' He said: 'Once I heard the flight attendants say 'Can somebody help me?' I was just like, I saw black almost, and I just grabbed him and sat him down.' Jeff Hankerson who was on the dramatic flight, told the outlet: 'He just got up and sat him down in the seat like a little kid.' Meanwhile, the captain had diverted the plane from Virginia to LAX to Colorado, adding around double to the normally six-hour journey. When the plane touched down at Grand Junction in Colorado, police boarded the plane and escorted the man out. The incident is now being investigated by the FBI. Police said no reports of assault or injuries to other passengers or crew were logged, according to ABC. A spokesperson for Breeze Airways told Metro: 'Breeze flight MX704 with service from Norfolk, Va. (ORF) to Los Angeles (LAX) on Wednesday, August 13, diverted to Grand Junction, Co. (GJT) after a male passenger became physically and verbally threatening to the crew and other guests. More Trending 'The plane was met promptly by local law enforcement officers, who restrained and removed the passenger from the aircraft. 'The flight was temporarily delayed in GJT while a new crew was brought in to deliver our remaining guests safely to their final destination. 'Flight 704 departed GJT at approximately 6.15pm MT local time on Wednesday and arrived in LAX at approximately 7.15pm PT.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Holidaymaker forces easyJet to refund £48 baggage fine with this simple technique MORE: Inside Putin's £400,000,000 'doomsday' plane built to withstand a nuclear blast MORE: RAF jets alerted to escort plane after 'sonic boom'
Indianapolis Star
3 days ago
- Indianapolis Star
Breeze Airways flight diverts after 'unruly' passenger breaks restraints twice
A Breeze Airways flight heading to Los Angeles from Virginia was diverted after a passenger with a skateboard became "unruly" and started waving the sports equipment around at flight attendants, according to local police and federal authorities. Officers with Grand Junction police in Grand Junction, Colorado, about 244 miles west of Denver, responded to an incident at the Grand Junction Airport around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 13, the department said in a Facebook post. Upon arrival, officers found that an intoxicated 46-year-old passenger from Los Angeles, "became agitated" and yelled "racist slurs at airline staff" while aboard Breeze Airways Flight 704, which had left Norfolk, Virginia, around 9 a.m. on Aug. 13, according to information from local police and the FBI. As flight attendants attempted to restrain the man while in the air, he managed to break free of the restraints twice, prompting an emergency landing at the airport, police said. The passenger did not physically assault anyone on the aircraft, and no injuries were reported, according to police. Neither the police department nor the FBI provided information about possible charges the man may face, but confirmed that the U.S. Attorney's Office would release further details regarding charges. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, passengers who engage in unruly behavior can be sentenced to prison, fined up to $37,000 or be put on a no-fly list. In 2025, there have been over 1,000 cases of unruly passengers on board commercial planes, according to the FAA. Following the incident, the passenger was taken into custody by the Grand Junction Police Department and transported to the Mesa County Detention Facility. An investigation into the incident remains ongoing. USA TODAY has emailed Breeze Airways for comment on Thursday, Aug. 14, but has not received a response. Breeze Airways is a low-cost airline headquartered in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, and provides nonstop service between underserved routes at affordable rates, according to its website. The airline began operating commercially in 2021.
USA Today
3 days ago
- USA Today
Breeze Airways flight diverts after 'unruly' passenger breaks restraints twice
A Breeze Airways flight heading to Los Angeles from Virginia was diverted after a passenger with a skateboard became "unruly" and started waving the sports equipment around at flight attendants, according to local police and federal authorities. Officers with Grand Junction police in Grand Junction, Colorado, about 244 miles west of Denver, responded to an incident at the Grand Junction Airport around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 13, the department said in a Facebook post. Upon arrival, officers found that an intoxicated 46-year-old passenger from Los Angeles, "became agitated" and yelled "racist slurs at airline staff" while aboard Breeze Airways Flight 704, which had left Norfolk, Virginia, around 9 a.m. on Aug. 13, according to information from local police and the FBI. As flight attendants attempted to restrain the man while in the air, he managed to break free of the restraints twice, prompting an emergency landing at the airport, police said. Was the passenger charged with a crime? The passenger did not physically assault anyone on the aircraft, and no injuries were reported, according to police. Neither the police department nor the FBI provided information about possible charges the man may face, but confirmed that the U.S. Attorney's Office would release further details regarding charges. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, passengers who engage in unruly behavior can be sentenced to prison, fined up to $37,000 or be put on a no-fly list. In 2025, there have been over 1,000 cases of unruly passengers on board commercial planes, according to the FAA. Following the incident, the passenger was taken into custody by the Grand Junction Police Department and transported to the Mesa County Detention Facility. An investigation into the incident remains ongoing. USA TODAY has emailed Breeze Airways for comment on Thursday, Aug. 14, but has not received a response. Breeze Airways is a low-cost airline headquartered in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, and provides nonstop service between underserved routes at affordable rates, according to its website. The airline began operating commercially in 2021. Michelle Del Rey is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at mdelrey@
Business Insider
3 days ago
- Business Insider
Breeze Airways passengers were delayed 7 hours after diverting due to an 'unruly' skateboard-waving passenger
A cross-country Breeze Airways flight took nearly 13 hours after diverting when an "unruly" passenger got into an altercation while waving a skateboard. Wednesday's Flight 704 took off from Norfolk, Virginia, just before 9:30 a.m., bound for Los Angeles. Around three hours into the journey, the Airbus A220 suddenly changed course. Data from Flightradar24 shows the plane circling around before heading north and diverting to Grand Junction, Colorado. In a statement shared on social media, the Grand Junction Police Department said that officers responded to "assist with an unruly passenger." It described the man as intoxicated, "yelling racist slurs at airline staff while waving a skateboard." Police officers also twice put him in restraints, but he broke out of them both times, it added. Local police said that "at no time did the suspect physically assault anyone, and no injuries were reported." The passenger was taken into custody, and an investigation is ongoing, local police added. Flight-tracking data shows the same plane took off from Grand Junction about seven hours after it landed there. It landed in Los Angeles shortly after 7 p.m. local time, instead of the expected arrival time of noon. Breeze Airways did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside US working hours. According to Federal Aviation Administration data, there have been just over 1,000 reports of unruly passengers so far this year. That means 2025 is set to be the lowest year since before the pandemic. Such reports rocketed fivefold to nearly 6,000 in 2021. While they halved the following year, levels have remained above those pre-pandemic.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Time of India
Mid-air chaos: LA-bound flight forced to divert due to unruly passenger; waved skateboard, shouted racial slurs
ANI file photo A Breeze Airways flight bound for Los Angeles was diverted to a Colorado airport after an unruly passenger, waving a skateboard and shouting racial slurs, clashed with fellow passengers and flight attendants and twice escaped his restraints, as per airline and local authorities. Breeze Airways Flight 704, which departed Norfolk, Virginia, at 9.17 am (local time) on Wednesday, was diverted to and landed in Grand Junction, Colorado. An "intoxicated male passenger became agitated, yelling racist slurs at airline staff while waving a skateboard. Airline staff placed the man in restraints twice, but he was able to break free both times,' stated the Grand Junction police department, which responded to the airport around 11.15 am (local time), reported ABC News. The suspect was identified as 46-year-old David Leroy Carter of Los Angeles and was taken into custody shortly after the plane landed in Colorado, reported NBC Los Angeles. As per crew reports, the airline said a physical altercation occurred on board, leaving one passenger and a flight attendant with minor injuries. No major injuries were reported. "The plane was met promptly by local law enforcement officers, who restrained and removed the passenger from the aircraft," the airlines stated. "One Flight Attendant and one Guest were evaluated for minor injuries. Our focus now is on taking care of our Crew and remaining Guests who have been unfairly inconvenienced by this unfortunate event and getting them safely to their final destination as quickly as possible. " There have been accounts of 1,007 unruly passengers so far this year compared to a record 5,973 cases in 2021. The numbers fell to 2,455 in 2022, 2,076 in 2023, and 2,102 in 2024, as per the Federal Aviation Administration.
