Air travel to New York’s JFK International Airport from Los Angeles International Airport on December 10 was anything but run-of-the-mill for passengers aboard JetBlue’s Flight 1224. A disruptive male passenger, who has not been identified, sank his teeth into his travel companions. That’s right. He bit other passengers. The result of his unruly conduct was that the plane was diverted to Las Vegas, where it landed, instead of flying into JFK as scheduled.

Doctors, who were also aboard the flight, tried helping but the passenger attacked them, too, according to TravelMole.

Stunned fellow passengers were enlisted to help subdue the troubled man, the New York Post reported.

The flight departed Los Angeles at 4:49 PM on Sunday and aimed to land at JFK Airport, Matt Bennett, a spokesman for JetBlue airlines stated. At approximately 9 PM, the unnamed male passenger “became disruptive,” according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The unprovoked attack against the other passengers was unprovoked and “began suddenly.”

Passengers help control attacker until plane lands in Vegas

One of the passengers who assisted in controlling the attacker was identified only as Tom by TravelMole and news agencies. Tom described grabbing and pinning the man’s hands behind his back. He, then, held the disruptive passenger to enable flight attendants to put on restraints.

Tom additionally stated that the biting, fighting passenger began shouting and attempted to advance toward the flight attendants. Tom, standing in front of the man as the plane flew over Utah, blocked the passenger’s ability to move forward. He said that it was difficult “keeping him in place,” Travel + Leisure Magazine reported.

Cell phone video captured mid-flight incident

Cell phone video footage that was shared on YouTube by KCAL 9 news depicts passengers who assisted in restraining the man, who is wearing the red shirt. He can be seen thrashing and “lashing out” against nearby passengers, as the Mirror (UK) relayed.

Because of the mid-flight drama, the JetBlue pilots landed at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, shortly after 9 PM.

With the plane and passengers safely on the ground, police escorted the troublesome passenger off of the plane. The Mirror reported that JetBlue verified that the passenger was “removed from the aircraft.” The airline also stated that the rest of the passengers on Flight 1224 continued with their “scheduled flight to New York.” There were no further mid-air incidents on the flight.

In-flight passenger incidents decrease while level of violence increases

Between the years of 2006 and 2014, there were over 58,000 incidents involving disruptive passengers cited in a reported by the International Air Transportation Association, Travel + Leisure noted. The report broke the incidents down into four categories, ranging from attacks taking place on the flight deck to passengers who refused to comply with crew mandates and “safety procedures.”

According to the transportation association’s report, the number of incidents has decreased in more recent years.

At the same time that there are fewer skirmishes or problems with passengers, their behavior is more violent than in the past.

The assistant director of the international association’s external affairs, which released its findings, is Tim Coleman. He stated that the rise in violent incidents can be attributed to passengers consuming “too much alcohol” prior to boarding their flights and while en route to their travel destinations, Travel + Leisure reported.

Las Vegas Metropolitan police officers said that there weren’t any charges filed against the unruly man. While his actions caused the plane to divert and make an emergency landing in Las Vegas, the other passengers did arrive in New York, only it was hours later than they expected.
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