WASHINGTON — Passengers on a flight to Washington D.C. were forced to make a detour after the flight was diverted to North Carolina due to an unruly passenger.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Envoy Air Flight 3444 left Jacksonville International Airport in Florida and planned on landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
However, an unruly passenger caused the flight to be diverted. The plane instead landed at Raleigh–Durham International Airport in North Carolina around 3:40 p.m.
Air traffic control audio revealed the passenger tried to get into the plane's cockpit.
"Subject is currently loose in the cabin, he is trying to breach the cockpit. He is being somewhat restrained by flight crew and other passengers," authorities said at the time.
It was later learned that the passenger was a woman, reportedly from D.C. Once the plane was on the ground the woman was taken into custody. The woman, who was reportedly suffering from a panic attack, now faces an airport obstruction charge, which is a misdemeanor.
Reports of unruly passengers spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, airlines reported about 3,000 cases of disruptive passengers, according to the FAA. While over the course of a decade, the FAA investigated about 140 cases a year for possible enforcement, in 2021 there had already been nearly 400 by late May.
In April 2022, two passengers were hit with large fines for unruly behavior after crew and other passengers were hit, bit and headbutted.
The FAA noted a significant uptick in the number of incidents reported on planes involving passengers and flight attendants.
Sign up for the Get Up DC newsletter: Your forecast. Your commute. Your news. Sign up for the Capitol Breach email newsletter, delivering the latest breaking news and a roundup of the investigation into the Capitol Riots on January 6, 2021.