US flight makes emergency landing due to unruly passenger
October 19th, 2011 - 1:59 pm ICT by IANSHouston, Oct 19 (IANS) A domestic Southwest Airlines flight made an emergency landing in a Texas town Tuesday afternoon after a male passenger attempted to break into the cockpit, authorities said.
The crew of Southwest’s Flight 3683 from Los Angeles to Kansas City asked for emergency clearance to land in Amarillo, Texas, after the passenger confronted the crew, aviation chief Patrick Rhodes told reporters.
Ali Reza Shahsauri, a 29-year-old US citizen, was arrested on a charge of interference with a flight crew and turned over to federal authorities for questioning, reported Xinhua.
None of the 136 passengers and five crew members aboard the flight was injured, said Brad Hawkins, spokesman for Dallas, Texas-based Southwest Airlines.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were involved in the investigation, with TSA spokeswoman Sarah Horowitz saying information was still being gathered on the incident. The FBI said initial probe found that the unruly passenger had no terror intent.
The plane departed for its scheduled destination after a security sweep, officials said.
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Tags: ali reza, amarillo texas, brad hawkins, cockpit, crew members, emergency landing, federal authorities, federal bureau of investigation, flight crew, horowitz, initial probe, investigation fbi, security sweep, southwest airlines, southwest airlines flight, transportation security administration, tsa, tuesday afternoon, unruly passenger, xinhua