Flight Diverts After Passenger 'Wouldn't Calm Down'

'Unruly' man causes plane from Paris to US to land in Newfoundland, Canada, instead: officials
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 5, 2023 10:10 AM CDT
Flight From Paris to US Ends Up in Canada Due to 'Unruly' Man
In this May 24, 2018, file photo a Delta Air Lines plane approaches Logan International Airport in Boston.   (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

A Delta Air Lines flight out of Paris on Friday had Detroit as its destination. But the plane took an unexpected detour to a third country after officials say an unmanageable passenger caused the aircraft to be diverted. FlightAware tracking data shows that Flight DL97 took off from Charles de Gaulle Airport on Friday morning and was in the air for just over six hours when it touched down not in Michigan, but at Stephenville Dymond International Airport in Newfoundland, Canada. That's because a 34-year-old man on board had been acting in an "unruly manner" and appeared intoxicated, Cpl. Jolene Garland, a rep for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, tells CNN.

A Canadian airport official tells WXYZ that the American passenger broke free from crew members who were restraining him, at which point a half-dozen or so passengers jumped in to help hold him down until the plane landed. "There was someone being violent and they wouldn't calm down," one passenger notes. "It was scary for a little bit." The man was arrested by the RCMP upon arrival at the Stephenville airport, Garland tells CNN.

The plane took off for Detroit about an hour and a half after sitting in Canada. "Delta has zero tolerance for unruly behavior, especially when it potentially compromises the safety of our customers and flight crew," the airline said in a statement. The unnamed passenger, who is facing charges of endangering an aircraft, is set to appear in court in Stephenville on Monday, according to Garland. (More unruly passenger stories.)

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