Well, this story has taken an odd twist. The Delta Air Lines flight that diverted to Oklahoma involved a black passenger who went on a tirade about being enslaved by white men according to witnesses onboard. His refusal to quiet down, despite being handcuffed, prompted the diversion. This in addition to allegedly assaulting a flight attendant and federal air marshal.
Video has now surfaced, first of an outburst onboard:
View this post on Instagram
and later of getting arrested:
Combative passenger on @Delta flight assaults flight attendant and Air Marshal, according to OKC police. Flight #342 from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles was diverted to Oklahoma City where police arrested the passenger. Story: https://t.co/3u0zKJrOQspic.twitter.com/RHnZX60z3M
— Eric Resendiz (@abc7eric) December 10, 2021
The man’s name still has not been released and his current status is not clear.
Just another flight to Los Angeles…
The original story is below.
A Delta Air Lines flights diverted in Oklahoma City when a passenger became unruly onboard, attacking first a flight attendant and then a federal air marshal.
Delta Air Lines Flight Diverts To Oklahoma City After Flight Attendant, Air Marshal Assaulted By Unruly Passenger
Delta flight 342 took off from Washington National (DCA) yesterday evening bound for Los Angeles (LAX). But about 3.5 hours into the flight, the incident took place.
It is not clear why the passenger became combative, but the passenger, described only as a man in his mid 30s, physically assaulted a flight attendant. When an air marshal onboard stepped in to intervene, the passenger turned on the air marshal and assaulted him. Another passenger responded to calls for assistance from the air marshal.
Eventually, the passenger was subdued and handcuffed. The captain then elected to divert the LA-bound flight to Oklahoma City (OKC).
According to Axios, which claims to have video of the incident but did not share it, the man was led off the aircraft without a mask on.
A Delta spokesperson confirmed the incident, but did not add any additional details:
“Delta applauds the quick action and professionalism of the crew and Federal Air Marshals on Delta flight 324 from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles, which diverted to Oklahoma City after a customer became unruly and was removed from the flight by local law enforcement. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.”
The suspect now faces both prison time and a steep fine. Neither the flight attendant or air marshal were seriously injured.
CONCLUSION
It seems that mask-related incidents have tapered off this month, perhaps a sign that people are getting used to them and given up protest even as the Biden Administration has extended the federal mask mandate into spring 2022. But incidents like this, if initial reports are accurate, are a reminder that controversy over masks continues to driver poor behavior onboard airplanes.
image: Delta (stock photo, the flight was operated by a 757-200, not an A350)
The bigger story is that we still have Air Marshals on flights. And where does he hide the gun?
Air Marshals are not required to let the crew know they’re onboard. Its legally optional. As is carrying concealed weapon.
where they hide their equipment is none of anyone’s business. 🙂
according to VTFW, the man went on a rant about slavery before the attack
Was also allegedly yelling about BLM
Not a good look for the white air marshal to put his knee on the black man’s back while zip-tying his wrists.
Defund the air marshalls.
My theory on the mask acceptance goes further than just people getting used to it. I have noticed the past few weeks that pilots are taking the time to give a far more serious talk about masks during the preflight passenger announcement. Some are downright stern warnings that remind people of arrests, fines and diversions. Rather than just a fleeting reminder as in the past, or avoiding the subject at all, they have all offered a pretty thorough review of the law and what the consequences are. And are not leaving it up to the flight attendants who people will rarely listen to during announcements or take seriously.
I’ve noticed that as well. Seems like a good idea.
The Axios article said the perp left maskless but did not say the altercation was over mask wearing. Is there proof that was the case or are you merely making a conjecture?
Maybe he was mad over Delta’s new Basic Economy rules.
I didn’t say it was over the mask.
The unjust Jussie verdict does have some people rightfully upset. He understands that if they can do this someone obviously framed like Jussie was, any black man can be next.
Apparently, you are just as crazy as this clown.
So Dave….given you seem to know what the right outcome should have been you must have been present in the court room for every minute of testimony, saw every piece of evidence and heard the deliberations, so what do you think 12 people selected by both the prosecution and defense missed? If I’m wrong in my assumption then my question would be what makes you qualified to comment on the ‘justness’ of the verdict one way or the other?
As a side note, clearly the guy flying freely on Delta wearing a tank top is enslaved…everything about the situation proves his bondage. Please far left, keep making every incident about race and all whites are evil, please please keep doing that. I have never seen a hand so overplayed that will continue to hurt a movement that had some merit (but ultimately will make the 85% of the population that isn’t blk turn a deaf ear). When you look at vio9lence against blacks in the USA, it’s black on black – where is all this white violence against blacks that is so disproportional to the BonB violence? Oh right, three different raced cops killed a black guy who was a convicted violent felon omitting a felony when a citizen called 911 to bring the police where as BLM wants everyone to believe cop cars full of white cops just drive around looking for innocent, chior boy black guys to kill.. What a great martyr. Yes, lets pull all police from black neighborhoods and we will see how peaceful they become. The teenage pregnancy will stop, they will all finish highschool and go to college, If it weren’t for those damn police and white people forcing the teenagers to have kids with multiple deadbeat fathers and keeping the doors to the schools locked.
I just wish people wouldn’t find it appropriate to fly in a tank top (or flip-flops).
Agreed.
The real problem with flip flop type sandals is if the airplane has some kind of incident when landing and the passengers have to evacuate, there is a real chance of serious injury, especially if there is broken metal or glass about. When I fly I always wear sturdy shoes and keep them on.
Go rmf
Looks like another round of payments (shake downs) to BLM from the airlines on the horizon. Delta must have assumed earlier public support and donations (extortion) would keep them out-of-the spotlight.
I am retired law enforcement not fam. I flew many transcontinental flights out of IAD years ago.. As a courtesy I would stop but to see the captain and show him my credentials and tell him my seat number. This was before 911. The pilots were always happy to meet me and have me on board. Then we worried about terrorists and hijackings not locals getting out of control on flights.
Also it is no ones need to know where our gear is located. Retired federal agent 2006.