Passengers were left terrified when their American Airlines flight from JFK to Milan was forced to turn back while they were over the Atlantic because of an “unruly passenger.”
According to those on board, the man was originally upset that he couldn’t sit in an exit row with a baby, reports CBS New York. He then became angrier when his meal choice wasn’t available.
The man later charged at air hostesses and, at one point, ran through the cabin and attempted to “barge into the pilot’s cabin.”
Flight 198 left New York City around 7 p.m. Monday. Four hours later, it turned around and headed back to the terminal.
“We kind of noticed a scuffle in the back. They were asking around if there were any police officers or Army members, or somebody who could help because there were no air marshals on,” passenger Krystie Tomlinson told CBS.
“There was apparently somebody in the back; he was charging at the stewardesses. At some point, he charged past all of our seats and tried to barge into the pilot’s cabin.”
“Apparently, the whole thing started because of a meal choice they didn’t get. I guess they asked for it ahead of time. They never got exactly what they wanted. They also wanted to sit in an exit row. They had a baby with them, so they told them they couldn’t, and apparently those two things are what pushed the person over the edge,” Tomlinson said.
“They were telling everyone that there were technical issues on the plane, which is even scarier,” another passenger, Michael Scigliano, said.
“The guy was still in the back of the plane unprotected, unrestrained, which was a little bit scary considering we had a plane full of 300 people and there was no air marshal on board, and we’ve got this crazy man in the back,” he added.
The flight landed safely back at JFK around 3 a.m. local time. The passengers then waited tensely for the man to be brought off the plane.
Scigliano said that despite the ordeal, the airline did not offer them anything.
This was echoed by Tomlinson, who said that she was told she would need to pay $79 if she wanted to use the AA lounge to breastfeed.
There were nearly 2,000 incidents of unruly passengers on flights in 2024, according to the FAA.
The Independent has reached out to American Airlines for comment.
