A Southwest Airlines flight bound for San Francisco was forced to return to LAX Sunday night because a fight broke out between a couple of passengers who did not know each other.
Flight 2010 left the gate at 10:25 p.m., but then was forced to return 30 minutes later. Via NBC:
The pilot doubled back after a man began choking the woman in front of him when she tilted her seat back, other passengers told NBC News.
“Evidently, we’ve got two passengers who are in a physical altercation, so we need to get turned around back to LAX,” the pilot told air-traffic control in a radio transmission obtained by NBC News.
NBC News reports the pilot declared an in-air emergency, but airport police said the plane never took off.
#LAXPD 2243hrs resp to call; Southwest flight diverted back to gate prior to takeoff due to passenger disturbance pic.twitter.com/ZSfWzm0ubk
— LA Airport PD (@LAAirportPD) October 19, 2015
A man was removed from the flight and questioned by the FBI. He was then released pending further investigation.
The flight’s remaining 136 passengers were then made to switch planes and ending up arriving at Francisco International Airport about five hours late.
