A Los Angeles-bound Compass Airlines aircraft operating on behalf of Delta Airlines was diverted to Arizona's Tucson International Airport Wednesday afternoon, following an onboard "verbal disturbance" involving a passenger, the FBI and Tucson Airport Authority confirmed. Specifics about the disturbance were not made available.
NORAD confirmed to ABC News that it scrambled two F-16 fighters to intercept the jet, which was carrying 80 people, including passengers and flight crew. The plane's flight crew notified the captain and copilot of the disturbance, leading to the F-16 fighter escort. The NORAD spokesman did not have details on the disturbance itself but said whatever it was met the criteria to launch the fighters, which monitored the plane until it landed in Tucson. Citing ?operational security?, they won?t say where the F-16s launched from.
The Embraer 170 aircraft was was en route to Los Angeles International Airport from San Antonio, Texas, according to the FAA.
The Tucson Airport Authority Police confirmed that one of its uniformed officers escorted and handcuffed the suspect along with an FBI agent, who took the individual into federal custody because of the "verbal disturbance," a spokesperson told ABC News. All passengers were taken off the plane and re-screened by TSA.
The FBI's Phoenix office said it was investigating the incident, but said there was no threat to public safety. They declined to tell ABC News if the suspect was in jail, a hospital, or has been released as of Thursday morning.
The FAA identified the aircraft as Compass flight 5720; it landed without incident at 4:35 p.m. PT.
https://gma.yahoo.com/onboard-verbal...opstories.html