..WAVES SKATEBOARD AT STAFF
A Breeze airline flight which left Norfolk, Virginia for Los Angles International airport was diverted on Wednesday and forced to land in Grand Junction, Colorado after a drunk passenger threatened and waved a skateboard on airline staff.
The diversion became necessary as the unruly passenger, who was restrained twice became uncontrollable.
Breeze Airways flight MX704 got to the airport just after 11 a.m. local time. The plane had to land because a drunk passenger was “yelling racist slurs at airline staff while waving a skateboard.”
Having restrained the man twice, according to reports, he was able to break out both times, hence he was arrested at the Grand Junction Regional Airport. The FBI is now investigating the incident.
One of the passengers who sat by him, identified as Jason, said the man spat on him and threw things at him.
“He was pretty intoxicated,” Jason said. “I witnessed him drink at least five or six different alcoholic beverages. He was sitting right beside me.”
“All I heard was the captain saying ‘We are no longer going to be selling alcohol,’” said another passenger. “And I look over to my left and it’s this man, he’s fidgeting and the men behind me are like he’s drunk.”
“And then the next thing you know he’s belligerent, he’s doing too much, he’s using racial slurs. He’s in people’s faces. And then the linebacker dude that was sitting in 17C literally picked this man up underneath his armpits and then put him down like he was in a car seat. It was amazing.”
The airline said crew members reported a physical altercation that left one passenger and a flight attendant with minor injuries. Police, however, said no injuries were reported to law enforcement.
Once the plane landed, the passenger was taken into custody by Grand Junction police at the direction of the FBI and booked into the Mesa County Detention Facility.
The Federal Aviation Administration says airlines have reported over 1,000 incidents involving unruly passengers so far in 2025.
The flight is scheduled to continue its journey to LAX, and is expected to land just before 6 p.m. local time, nearly 12 hours after it first took off from Virginia.
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