A 42-year-old New York man is under arrest after allegedly causing a disturbance and acting "erratically" on a JetBlue flight, forcing the plane to land in Minnesota.
A spokesperson for JetBlue confirms that the flight took off Sunday afternoon (May 16) from New York and was headed for San Francisco when "a customer on board began acting erratically and aggressively toward crew members and other customers," according to KARE 11.
KGO 7 in San Francisco reported that passengers said the man had a bag of a white substance, touched a woman, made inappropriate comments to multiple females onboard, yelled racial slurs upon boarding, and refused to wear a mask.
The pilots decided the situation was severe enough to divert the plane and land in Minnesota. Airport police met the aircraft at the gate and arrested the man.
In a statement to KARE 11, Derek Dombrowski, JetBlue's Corporate Communications Manager, said, "Safety is JetBlue’s first priority, and we appreciate our crewmembers’ response and our customers’ patience during this incident."
Metropolitan Airports Commission spokesman Patrick Hogan said the charges against the man are on a county level, but the FBI may file federal charges separately.
The man was taken to Hennepin County Jail and is now facing drug charges and other potential offenses.
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