American Airways flight pressured to divert to Raleigh on account of “unruly” passenger

An American Airways flight from Jacksonville, Florida, to Washington, D.C., was pressured to divert to Raleigh, North Carolina, on account of a passenger that apparently tried to breach the cockpit.

American Eagle flight 3444 was diverted “on account of a safety concern involving an unruly buyer,” the airline stated in an announcement.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tweeted Wednesday evening that he had been briefed on the “flight diversion on account of a Degree 4 disruption on board.” In accordance with Federal Aviation Administration paperwork, a Degree 4 disruption constitutes “tried or precise breach of the flight deck.”

The FAA famous in a tweet that it’s working to finalize a rule that will “require new planes to have a second barrier to the flight deck.”

The passenger was faraway from the flight by native legislation enforcement at Raleigh-Durham Worldwide Airport, the airline stated. In accordance with the airport, the Embraer E170 landed at round 3:40 p.m. ET.  After the passenger was taken into custody, the airplane was cleared to proceed its flight to Washington, D.C.

The FBI’s Charlotte subject workplace responded to the incident, the bureau stated in an announcement. “The FBI is presently conducting interviews to assemble the information and can seek the advice of with the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace of the Jap District of North Carolina to find out if federal prices will probably be filed,” the FBI stated.

The FAA stated it was additionally investigating the incident.

— Katie Krupnik and Jeff Pegues contributed reporting.