An unruly passenger led a United Airlines flight from Newark Liberty International Airport to divert to a Virginia airport while flying to Costa Rica Wednesday morning, officials said.
United flight 1080 departed from Newark airport around 8:30 a.m. and diverted to Dulles International Airport, where the plane landed around 11 a.m., according to flight tracking records. The aircraft continued to the gate and the disruptive customer was removed, according to United Airlines.
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police, fire rescue crews and other law enforcement officials responded and the passenger was taken to a local hospital, an airport authority spokesman said. The incident was being investigated by the FBI, the spokesman said.
Authorities did not release more details about the passenger or the circumstances surrounding the incident.
In a statement, the FBI Washington. D.C. field office confirmed agents responded to “reports of an incident aboard a flight diverted to Dulles.”
“We are working with our partners and we have no further information to provide at this time,” the FBI statement said.
According to FlightAware records, the Boeing 737-800 aircraft departed from Dulles around 1:30 p.m. local time for its original destination of Juan Santamaría International Airport in San José, the capital city of Costa Rica.
Citing a “disturbing increase” in cases of unruly passengers, the Federal Aviation Administration enacted a stricter enforcement policy instead of issuing warnings. The FAA can issue fines to disruptive airline travelers while incidents can also lead to federal criminal charges. FAA officials in April said there was a decline in incidents this year.
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Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com.
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