An American Airlines Airbus A321 was forced to make an emergency landing at Salt Lake City Airport (SLC) because of unruly behavior onboard the aircraft. Social media footage indicated that the passenger, who was intoxicated, attempted to open the cockpit doors.
The incident details
On July 18, 2024, an American Airlines Airbus A321 aircraft, registered as N185UW, was operating routine flight AA 2101 from Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SEA) to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) when the pilots were forced to divert the flight and land nearly midway at Salt Lake City Airport (SLC).
The diversion occurred because of an unruly passenger who attempted to enter the flight deck. Video footage on X showed the cabin crew managing the situation. The passenger was believed to be intoxicated. In the video, American Airlines cabin crew restrained the passenger and escorted him to his seat while he shouted, “I have autism.”
After the flight landed, the passenger was arrested by the police. The flight continued to Dallas (DFW), Texas, without further incident shortly after the passenger was deplaned.
Unruly incidents in the United States
Despite several unruly behavior incidents onboard aircraft this year, the United States saw a decrease in disruptive passenger behavior.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), unruly incidents include “violence against crew and other passengers, harassment, verbal abuse, smoking, failure to follow safety and public health instructions and other forms of riotous behavior.”
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recorded a total of 893 unruly behavior incidents this year, with most of them reported in May 2024. Meanwhile, in 2023, the US civil aviation regulator received 2,075 reports of disruptive behavior onboard aircraft.
The numbers for 2023 and this year are considerably lower than those recorded in 2021 and 2022 when the world was reopening after the global COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the FAA received 2,455 reports of unruly behavior, while in 2021, it received a staggering 5,973 reports.
The ongoing air rage crisis is not limited to the United States; IATA has highlighted concerns about the sharp increase in unruly passenger incidents globally. According to data released by the IATA, based on over 24,500 incident reports from over 50 operators aournd the globe, there was one incident for every 480 flights in 2023 versus one incident for every 568 flights in 2022.