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Home » United Airlines » United Flight Diverts When Passenger Rushes Cockpit
United Airlines

United Flight Diverts When Passenger Rushes Cockpit

Matthew Klint Posted onJuly 24, 2017November 14, 2023 4 Comments

 

a black cable tie with a metal clamp

A United flight was forced to turn around after a distressed passenger made a rush for the flight deck.

United 898 was scheduled to leave Houston at 9:43p on Saturday evening for a short flight to New Orleans, but the aircraft arrived late from Austin. The flight finally took off about an hour late.

25 minutes into the short fight, passengers reported hearing a woman began yelling and hitting her had against the fuselage (wall) of the plane. She reportedly yelled–

We are all protected and loved! We are all protected and loved! This plane is going to land beautifully and kindly!

Then she made a run for the cockpit. It allegedly took five men to hold her down. a FA provided zip-ties (pictured above) and her hands and legs were bound as the flight returned to Houston and was met by authorities.

One passenger, Julian Markowitz, shared the following story–

In an instant, she stands up, bolts to the aisle and started springing towards the cockpit. As soon as she started running, I stand up and ask the flight attendant, ‘Can I help you with this? Do you need help?’ She said go for it, so I gently pushed the flight attendant out of the way and started sprinting after the woman myself. It took five men to hold her down. It wasn’t easy. She was in a total psychotic state. She was very aggressive.

Here’s a report from a local news affiliate about the incident–

 

CONCLUSION

The flight would eventually take off again for New Orleans and arrive three hours late.

Markowitz offered one further comment that is quite poignant:

She was not of sound mind, but anyone who would have more malicious intent would have been subdued in a similar fashion. That reflects the vigilance that American travelers have in this era.

Indeed, I have far more faith in my fellow passengers onboard than any uniformed clerks on the ground.

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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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4 Comments

  1. James Reply
    July 24, 2017 at 8:59 am

    It begs the question, is the statement “we are here primarily for your safety” really true? Most of the incidents were handled by passenger.

    The recent 1st class passenger rampaging delta, subdued by passenger, while FA didn’t manage to secure him even aftrr breaking 2 bottles of wine over his head. In the event of a heart attack, overdose passenger, or someone suddenly becomes ill, how many times you hear FA screaming looking for any doctor or paramedics on board? That despite the always proclaimed they were professionally trained for emergency.

    Are they really exist for safety, or its just a gimmick (which nobody dare protested due to fear being politically incorrect)?

    Or a stupid reason to cover up their lazyness?

  2. René Reply
    July 24, 2017 at 9:07 am

    Scary. I agree that US passengers are never going to let something happen ever again and will take whatever action is necessary. I jumped up once on a KLM flight years ago when a passenger backed an FA up against the cockpit door. None of the other passengers moved to help me btw.

  3. dale Reply
    July 24, 2017 at 10:59 am

    There’s a fair probability of something like this occurring on a flight you’re on if you fly often enough (drunks acting out, etc). What bugs me is the over-reaction or pseudo-security authority “decision” of a crew — in this case to return to Houston. Yes, somebody has to decide, but it would have infuriated me if I was on that plane. How far apart are Houston and New Orleans? They handled it — so why further stress out and inconvenience (no doubt with all sorts of “security” hoo-haw) an entire plane load of passengers because of one persons sad breakdown? Even in some worst case (?) scenario, how much difference would it have made to go on rather than go back, considering how short that flight is?

    I was on a flight from SLC to DFW not long after Sep 2001 …nervous flyers all … and there was a very emotionally disturbed young man (adult) towards the back who screamed uncontrollably most of the way … it was awful. Everybody gritted their teeth and the flight was otherwise uneventful. In todays environment, that flight would almost certainly have diverted. Not the same, but ….

  4. O'Flanagan Reply
    July 31, 2017 at 9:16 pm

    Whenever these incidents occur, the offender’s names should appear on a no fly list, and hence, they should be prohibited from flying commercially anywhere, and at any time in the USA. In addition, they should be sued civilly, for the cost of the diversion, and lost flight time. Last, criminal charges should always be filed against those psychos; let them use their Attorneys to argue mitigating circumstances (i.e. mental problems), in court. The airline industry and the feds are going to have to get tough and take seriously disruptive, violent, and drunk passengers. Air rage on commercial aircraft must be taken seriously, and addressed by the FAA. Air rage is just as dangerous, as a mechanical problem on a commercial airliner.

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