FLIGHT INTERRUPTED BECAUSE OF ASSAULT
A Delta Air Lines flight bound for Beijing returned to
Seattle on Thursday after a passenger assaulted a flight attendant in the
first-class cabin before being subdued by other travelers, a Seattle-Tacoma
International Airport spokesman said. The flight attendant and a passenger were
sent to an area hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening after the
Boeing 767-300 landed safely shortly after 7 p.m., airport spokesman Perry
Cooper said.
A 23-year-old male passenger, from Florida, was arrested
by Port of Seattle police on suspicion of assaulting a member of the flight
crew and was transferred to federal detention, a Federal Bureau of
Investigation spokeswoman said by e-mail. Delta flight 129 departed
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at around 5:30 p.m., but headed back to
Seattle roughly 45 minutes into the flight, Cooper said.
Cooper said the man assaulted a flight attendant in the
first-class cabin, but said he had no further details about the incident. The FBI, which was assisting local police with
the investigation, interviewed passengers and had no information to suggest the
incident was a threat to national security, said Ayn Dietrich, an agency
spokeswoman.
The suspect was due to make to an initial appearance in
federal court in Seattle on Friday afternoon, Dietrich said. Cooper said
multiple passengers intervened to help subdue the suspect during the in-flight
disturbance. The pilot decided to turn back and call for police, fire, and
medical personnel to meet the plane.
Lorie Dankers, a spokeswoman for the Transportation
Security Administration, said there was no security breach at the airport,
south of Seattle.Delta spokeswoman Liz Savadelis said by e-mail that the
passenger was restrained onboard and then removed from the flight by law
enforcement without further incident after the plane landed in Seattle. The
flight was scheduled to re-depart for Beijing later in the evening, Savadelis
said. Media reports that the plane was escorted back to Seattle by military
jets were inaccurate, she added.
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