PASSENGERS SUBDUE UNRULY MAN ON PLANE AT NEWARK AIRPORT
Flight Forced Back To Gate Before Takeoff
UPDATED: 8:28 am EST February 24, 2004
NEWARK, N.J. -- An international flight about to take off Monday night was forced back to the gate at Newark Liberty International Airport after a passenger became unruly and was subdued by passengers and crew members, Port Authority police said.
The flight, Alitalia flight No. 607, was scheduled to depart at 6:45 p.m. and arrive in Milan, Italy, at 8:40 a.m. Tuesday.
But a passenger became so unruly after the plane had pushed off from the gate that the aircraft was forced to return to the gate at Terminal B, said Alan Hicks, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police.
Port Authority police then boarded the plane and removed the passenger to a waiting ambulance, Hicks said. He was taken to Trinitas Hospital in Elizabeth for observation, Hicks said.
The police did not identify the man or divulge the nature or extent of the difficulty aboard the aircraft.
The Alitalia flight finally departed at 9:55 p.m., more than three hours late, according to the airline's automated flight tracker.
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