A Virgin America flight bound for Los Angeles out of Boston had to make an unexpected stop on Monday after it was diverted to Omaha, Nebraska.
The airline didn’t confirm many details about the incident, but did issue a statement:
“Virgin America flight VX363, carrying 108 passengers diverted to Omaha this morning due to a medical incident involving a guest on board. Out of respect for the privacy of the guest, we aren’t able to comment further,” the statement read.
A passenger aboard the plane said a young man who was acting strangely tried to open the rear door of the aircraft in midair.
“I just heard from other passengers that he was growing more upset and tried to pull the plastic latch off of a door and pull it open,” passenger Sam Slater said.
Slater took video of a man being led off of the plane, apparently in handcuffs, and sent a tweet about the situation.
Passenger Anne Bennett said the man “seemed very upset by something, very agitated for some reason.”
“He was sort of pacing up and down the aisles,” Bennett said. “As a physician, I was a little bit more worried about his mental state.”
Flight attendants, accompanied by two Boston police officers who were on board, eventually took the man to the back of the plane, according to Slater.
Emergency landing in Omaha @VirginAmerica 363, Had To help restrain an unruly passenger try to open door mid flight. @TSA & @FBI en route
— Sam Slater (@TheSamSlater) September 22, 2014
Another picture, which was posted to Instagram, appeared to show police escorting the man to a patrol vehicle.
The flight eventually continued to Los Angeles and arrived at LAX at about 12:15 p.m.
KTLA’s John A. Moreno contributed to this report.