Delta Air Lines plane.Photo: Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty
A Delta Air Lines flight headed for Los Angeles was diverted to Oklahoma City on Thursday after an “unruly passenger” allegedly assaulted a flight attendant and a federal air marshal.
Police say officers boarded the plane upon its arrival in Oklahoma City and arrested Pennington on complaints of disorderly conduct and public drunkenness. Pennington was subsequently booked into the Oklahoma City Detention Center. According to KTLA5,he was bonded out of jailafter five hours and paid $334 in fines.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing and the FBI is expected to bring charges against Pennington, CBS Los Angeles said. It is unclear if Pennington has obtained an attorney.
Video of the alleged incidenthas since surfaced on social media. An Instagram video appears to show a portion of the altercation, beginning with the apparent suspect yelling in the face of an air marshal in the middle of the plane cabin’s aisle.
The air marshal asks the passenger to sit down numerous times, and the individual briefly complies after initially appearing to refuse. After getting up against orders twice, the marshal handcuffs him.
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A spokesperson for Delta Air Lines confirmed the incident in a statement to PEOPLE.
“Delta applauds the quick action and professionalism of the crew and Federal Air Marshals on Delta flight 342 from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles,” the spokesperson said.
Delta apologized to impacted customers “for the inconvenience.”
An increased number of incidents involving unruly passengers have been reported on flights since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. According to current data fromthe Federal Aviation Administration(FAA), there have been 5,553 reports of unruly passengers on flights in just the last year. Of those incidents, 3,998 were mask-related.
According to a JulyConde Nast Travelerreport, 85 percent of flight attendants claimed to have dealt with an unruly passenger within the last year. Of those surveyed, 58 percent reported encountering at least five incidents in the first half of 2021 alone.
“This survey confirms what we all know, the vitriol, verbal, and physical abuse from a small group of passengers is completely out of control, and is putting other passengers and flight crew at risk,” Sara Nelson, AFA-CWA’s president, said in a statement at the time.
source: people.com
