Flight to Washington, D.C., diverted after Level 4 disruption, passenger tried to breach flight deck

Just The News ^ | By Joseph Weber Updated: February 23, 2023 - 11:19am

[Red Badger]

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says he was briefed on the flight diversion due to the "Level 4 disruption on board."

An American Airlines flight bound overnight to Washington, D.C., was diverted Wednesday afternoon after a passenger tried to breach the cockpit.

The flight departed from Jacksonville, Florida, and was forced to land at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport, in North Carolina.

American Eagle flight 3444 was diverted "due to a security concern involving an unruly customer," the airline told CBS News later Wednesday.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tweeted Wednesday night that he had been briefed on the flight diversion due to a "Level 4 disruption on board."

A Level 4 disruption is an "attempted or actual breach of the flight deck," according to Federal Aviation Administration documents reviewed by the news outlet.

Local law enforcement removed the passenger at about 3:40 p.m., and the FBI agents from the ageny's Charlotte field office also responded to the incident. The flight was resumed after a security sweep.

The FAA said it was also investigating the incident, CBS also reports.

[blackdog]

I had to fly commercial last week. First time in 18 years. I usually fly my family myself. I will never-ever do that again. Even at $6 a gallon for Avgas, paying $800 for a fill up is worth not being treated like suspect human garbage, crammed into undersized plastic seats.

Going thru TSA they have those 1984 Big Brother signs everywhere stating "You Are Your I.D." I had to get "supplemental screening" on outbound and return legs. I'm not sure why?

Five hours in a Piper Aztec or five hours going thru dehumanizing livestock control, the end destination is the same.

Commercial air travel is cruel and unusual punishment. I can remember my parents forcing me to wear a jacket and tie when flying the airlines and you were treated as an honored guest. Now you're treated like something you pick up with a shovel in a barn.

[Red Badger]

Alcohol hits you much harder in a aircraft than on the ground at sea level.....................

[Red Badger]

Air travel is now not even as good as Greyhound.................

[McCarthysGhost]

Before they added all of the security reinforcements?

[Skwor]

What do you mean?

Are you saying things like the rash of false hate crimes which we now know were hoaxes were not staged by people pretending they experienced recist hate acts?

I said I first wonder, not that it has to be.

[blackdog]

DWF mixed anxiety meds with her wine, then altitude was set to 9000 feet. A lot less oxygen. Reasonably sober and coherent at sea level can go to bat poop crazy at cruise altitude. Cabin pressures are typically set from 8000 feet to 10,000 feet.

[pierrem15]

Good point: hadn’t thought about the effects of altitude. The other thing is that female alcohol abusers are more likely than men to fly into rages when drunk.

[deport]

you pick up with a shovel in a barn.

**********

Yep it abounds now days it seems. More so
than in my growing up days where you got a
shovel, went to the barn and moved it to
another location for fertilizer.

[dfwgator]

Ted Davis : ...but don't get her drunk. If you get her drunk,

Ted Davis : she loses control!

Walter Davis : Ted, are we talking a loss of inhibitions here, or does she pee on the floor?

[NorthMountain]

Last time I rode Greyhound, the bus broke down in the middle of WBF, and we waited on the side of the road for three hours until another bus showed up ...

Can’t say I’ve ever had that happen on an airliner ...

[blackdog]

I ferry piloted a damaged Super Cub on floats from South Carolina to Bangor Maine. The owner was cheap and gave me a Greyhound Bus ticket for my trip back home. I got off in Jamestown Rhode Island and jump seated a ride on a US Check Lear 31 to get home before a week went by. The bus, driver, and passengers, were great. It just takes way too long and stops in every one bar town along the way. My youngest son loves the bus. He does his office work along the trips from his laptop. He also loves the Amtrak train from New Orleans to Chicago and from Chicago to Seattle. He refuses to fly commercial too. His employer doesn’t mind.

[Blueflag]

If you look CLOSELY at the hair, forearm skin and the wrist jewelry, this *may* be a double-protected person of color.

*May*

[Red Badger]

happened to me in Zurich..................

[blackdog]

I once took Halidol with four glasses of red wine (at home). What subsequently took place is the stuff of legend. I remember nothing. My wife informed me of what ensued over the course of about four hours before I finally curled up in a fetal ball with no clothes on somewhere between the swimming pool hot tub and the wood pile. She tossed a blanket on me and left me there.

Never mix behavior or sleep meds with alcohol 🍸. I learned my lesson.

[bitt]

p

[deport]

RDU International released a statement on the incident, saying that upon the plane landing, law enforcement boarded the plane and took the passenger into custody.

The plane was cleared to resume its trip to D.C., RDU also said, but American Airlines said the flight ended up being canceled and that the 50 passengers on board are being accommodated on alternate flights.

"Safety and security are our top priorities, and we thank our customers for their cooperation and our team members for their professionalism in managing a difficult situation," an American Airlines spokesperson told 7News.

And the earth kept spinning........

[pfflier]

The perp could have been drunk or stoned out of their minds.

Or a privileged child of obummer not being able to control his anger.

[mund1011]

It looks like it was a woman....

You must be a biologist. Yes?

[pierrem15]

My doc gave me a prescription for the anti-anxiety/anti-depressive Zyban to quit smoking.

I almost completely lost any sense of fear. Oncoming car dead ahead? No problem! I had a rude waiter at a restaurant and started picking up the steak knife. I quit taking the meds shortly after that episode.

[blackdog]

My pest control guy of 20 years quit smoking along with his wife. They were in their 50's. He ran a stop sign in a rural county and spent the next six weeks in county lock-up. The prescription for the medication to quit smoking made him crazy mean. The cop was not sympathetic. He got tazered and a few blows to the belly with a club to take his breath away.

Normally a calm guy. He fortunately went back to his two packs a day. So did the wife. If they had not, someone was going to die.