Travelers rattled after flight to O’Hare is diverted to Detroit due to unruly passenger
By Charlie De Mar
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CHICAGO (WBBM) — A plane full of passengers finally made it to Chicago Sunday night, after their flight from New York was diverted to Detroit because of an unruly passenger.
American Airlines flight 2819 took off from John F. Kennedy International Airport just before 9 a.m. ET (8 a.m. CT) and landed at the Detroit Metro Airport in Romulus, Michigan, at 11:08 a.m. ET.
The FBI and the Wayne County, Michigan Airport Authority responded to the flight, according to an airport spokesperson. The carrier said passengers were taken off the plane while law enforcement searched and cleared the aircraft.
“There was a guy who came on the plane with machine gun, and we’re being told, ‘Put your head down and hands up,'” said passenger Esther Sutofsky.
Some travelers took video as FBI agents swarmed the plane.
“It was an awfully, awfully long day for all of us, and pretty spooky,” said passenger Sona Jones. “I think, like, the kids handled it well.”
In all, the flight between JFK and Chicago — not an especially long one under normal circumstances — took seven hours with all the disruptions.
Jones described what happened with the unruly passenger.
“Something to the effect of, ‘If you don’t land this plane, I’m going to, I’ll blow it the plane,’ or, ‘If you don’t land this plane, I’m going to do something to it, and you will see,'” she said.
“And about an hour out of Chicago, we hear this person in the back screaming, yelling, and: ‘No! No! No!’ And he’s not going to — ‘I can’t get off the plane!'” said passenger Gerry Sutofsky. “According to the people who came on the plane, he was threatening — he said there was a bomb.”
Once on the ground in Detroit, first responders boarded the flight and removed the disruptive passenger. Jones provided and circled a picture that showed the man’s luggage on the tarmac after it was pulled from the plane.
Jones described what happened with the unruly passenger.
“Something to the effect of, ‘If you don’t land this plane, I’m going to, I’ll blow it the plane,’ or, ‘If you don’t land this plane, I’m going to do something to it, and you will see,'” she said.
“And about an hour out of Chicago, we hear this person in the back screaming, yelling, and: ‘No! No! No!’ And he’s not going to — ‘I can’t get off the plane!'” said passenger Gerry Sutofsky. “According to the people who came on the plane, he was threatening — he said there was a bomb.”
Once on the ground in Detroit, first responders boarded the flight and removed the disruptive passenger. Jones provided and circled a picture that showed the man’s luggage on the tarmac after it was pulled from the plane.
“I’m exhausted, and I’m upset,” said Esther Sutofsky. “We were just sitting there not knowing anything, hour after hour.”
While the flight was an eventful one, the passengers who spoke with CBS News Chicago said at no point during the flight did they feel unsafe or threatened. They described the whole ordeal as more of a nuisance.
Nick Lentz contributed to this report.
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