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Home » United Airlines » My SFO-IAD United Flight Diverted to Omaha due to Unruly Passenger
United Airlines

My SFO-IAD United Flight Diverted to Omaha due to Unruly Passenger

Matthew Klint Posted onMarch 29, 2010 21 Comments

Currently on the ground at OMA. Details later. 

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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21 Comments

  1. Hunter Reply
    March 29, 2010 at 3:09 pm

    I told you to stop giving those chicks Quaaludes mid-flight. And you better post the pictures and video – no matter what UA says.

  2. Sean Reply
    March 29, 2010 at 3:32 pm

    It was UA 142, if anyone wants to see the track its here:

    http://flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL142

  3. RDimperio Reply
    March 29, 2010 at 3:34 pm

    Cool. I’ve not been to Omaha. Let’s assume until we hear otherwise that Matthew isn’t that unruly passenger.

  4. Josh Reply
    March 29, 2010 at 3:37 pm

    Someone had too many of these.
    chelada%21.png

  5. Mike Reply
    March 29, 2010 at 3:54 pm

    @Matthew – did you specifically pick this flight due to its higher than normal chances for unruly pax to increase your chances of compensation? If so, how do you know which flights historically have more unruly passengers? Expert Flyer? Flight Aware? TMZ?

    @Josh – lol

  6. Hunter Reply
    March 29, 2010 at 3:59 pm

    This just off the wire:
    Passenger, a white male in his mid 20’s was seen running up and down the aisle screaming “balls deep”.

    As the FBI was pulling the passenger off the plane he was quoted saying “Red Dragon’s Balls made me do it”.

  7. Matthew Reply
    March 29, 2010 at 4:06 pm

    ROTFL

  8. Nl Reply
    March 29, 2010 at 4:11 pm

    I was on this flight. I never found out what happened. Why was the lady restrained in the first place?

  9. Matthew Reply
    March 29, 2010 at 4:26 pm

    My PHL flight is delayed an hour. :rolleyes:

    @Nl: I tried to find out. Captain Fitzgerald and the purser said it had something to do with a toothbrush and toothpaste? Maybe she needed to use the lav and there was a line? I wish I knew. I didn’t mention that above, because it is pure speculation. Where were you seated?

  10. Matthew Reply
    March 29, 2010 at 4:28 pm

    @Mike: I’ve been pretty fortunate lately on picking the right flights. Dog the Bounty Hunter on my flight to HNL, Wesley Clark last Friday, and now the crackpot woman who netted me a $350 domestic voucher.

  11. Nl Reply
    March 29, 2010 at 6:29 pm

    I was in row 11. All I saw was the flight attendant holding the woman bringing her from the back of the plane to the middle (bet coach and biz class) section and then they started screaming. And 2 or 3 men jumped up to help restrain her. Then there was the duct taping of her mouth I think. Then she was brought to the back.

  12. anonymom Reply
    March 29, 2010 at 9:50 pm

    I too was on the flight – 2A. I had not heard that the woman had tried to open the door inflight! Wow! I understood that she was trying to storm the cockpit and I did hear her claiming to be and “expert from MIT”. One flight attendant told me that she had been a problem on the flight from the time of boarding (wouldn’t sit in her seat/wanted a new seat) and it escalated from there. She made claims that some men around her were plotting to bring the plane down with a bomb. I also heard she made accusations that someone had a chemical weapon onboard (it was a flight attendant that she was accusing). I saw the duct tape being taken to the back where she had been subdued and a few minutes later I saw handcuffs heading back there too (never knew airplanes had handcuffs onboard). When she deplaned I noticed her feet were bare and she was walking as if her ankles were tied together either with tape, handcuffs, or zip ties. I would love to see the video you shot.

  13. Matthew Reply
    March 30, 2010 at 4:14 am

    @anonymom: Another passenger in row 9 did not observe her trying to open the door, but it sure looked like she was trying from my vantage point. Thanks for your comment.

    @Nl: How far back did they take her?

  14. Keys Reply
    March 30, 2010 at 5:51 pm

    The woman in question is my girlfriend and she is an MIT grad if anyone can give me more details of this account please contact me at joshkeys1@yahoo.com

  15. NI Reply
    March 30, 2010 at 10:27 pm

    I didn’t see how far back they took her….but I heard the FA (I think it was her) tell the 2 men to take her back to the bathroom.

    Here’s a news article about what happened:

    http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/nebraska/article_3546df02-3c3a-11df-bcc6-001cc4c03286.html

    After reading this, I am inclined to think it was just a crazy lady who was paranoid. I know that near her were some people that she probably racially profiling and thought were terrorists. She was just probably a paranoid person afraid to fly…and then went nuts thinking that there were terrorists on the plane, when it was really HER that was creating the disturbance.

  16. J. Morris Reply
    March 31, 2010 at 1:01 am

    I was one of the two guys who restrained her. She never attempted to open the door in first class but the FA told the guys near it to guard it just in case. I was also one of guys who had to take his wife off in Omaha. It was only her second flight of her life and she had a panic attack. I guess it is not every day you see your husband wrangle a woman to the ground and hog tie her. I’m glad it worked out and no one was hurt.

    • Jack Reply
      July 16, 2018 at 11:46 pm

      Thank you for helping us (and the wonderful, yet frightened FA’s). They could not have helped subdue her without you and the other gentleman. I remember her declaring loudly, ” I am a chemist!” Sorry for the belated (years) response, but I am just thinking about the incident. I am happy she is ok. When one hears the pilot over the speaker say: “We have a problem in the back of the plane…”. Well, I started praying. Thank you for your help!

  17. Matthew Reply
    March 31, 2010 at 1:11 am

    More info here:

    http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_14788016

  18. Matthew Reply
    March 31, 2010 at 1:14 am

    @J. Morris: Thanks for posting. Didn’t she attempt to grab it before being restrained? It really looked like she was at least groping for the door (though I thought she actually grabbed onto the lever) from my seat a few rows forward.

    I hope your wife is okay. Did you receive the apology e-mail from United? If not, go to united.com/appreciation, enter your details for the flight, and you will see that UA has offered compensation to each of the passengers onboard.

    • Jack Reply
      July 16, 2018 at 11:39 pm

      I distinctly remember her screaming,” I am a chemist!” Of course, I was saying the Lord’s Prayer out loud at that point. Thank you to the two guys who helped restrain her.

  19. Matthew Reply
    March 31, 2010 at 1:28 am

    Another story:

    http://chronicle.augusta.com/latest-news/2010-03-30/augustan-helps-subdue-woman-flight?v=1269977268

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