A jetliner bound for San Diego from the East Coast had to make an unscheduled landing in Denver due to a disruptive and uncooperative passenger, officials said Wednesday.
Alaska Airlines Flight 769 out of Boston landed about 8:30 p.m. MST Tuesday, after which police took the belligerent traveler into custody, said Heath Montgomery, spokesman for Denver International Airport.
The detained man, whose name was withheld, was not arrested, Montgomery said.
Following a brief delay, the jetliner took off again and proceeded without further incident to Lindbergh Field.
Passengers who had been on the flight told reporters the ejected man had brought his own alcoholic beverage onto the plane. When the crew informed him that he wasn’t allowed to drink it, he started yelling, saying he was “not a terrorist.”
At one point, he shouted, “We’re all going to die — you’re all going to die,” according to witnesses.
Another passenger told CBS News that the upset man “was a little belligerent and obnoxious, basically, and started to worry a few passengers.”
Alaska Airlines did not respond to requests for information about the incident.
— City News Service
