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An unruly passenger on a flight to New York was arrested and questioned on Saturday after the plane landed at LaGuardia Airport, authorities said.
The passengers have been ordered to disembark from a taxiway due to a “potential safety issue,” American Airlines said in a statement. No injuries were reported.
The situation occurred on the carrier’s American Eagle flight 4817, operated by Republic Airways, from Indianapolis to New York. The Embraer 175 plane was carrying 76 passengers and four crew members, American said.
“The plane landed safely and all customers disembarked without incident,” American Airlines said.
New York Police declined to comment.
In a video apparently shot from a passenger’s perspective, firefighters could be seen with a man face down on the tarmac with his arms outstretched.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the plane landed safely at 3:03 p.m. The FAA had not described it as an emergency landing.
Unruly passengers have become such a problem during the Covid-19 pandemic that the FAA has warned U.S. airports to monitor the amount of alcohol they serve departing passengers.
Over the summer, American Airlines extended its suspension of in-flight alcohol service until January 18, 2022.
Domestic flights since 2020 have sometimes hosted people vocally opposed to masks, as well as onboard fighting and alleged assaults.
The FAA has seen an explosion in reports of unruly passengers, from around 125 in a typical year to around 3,900 this year through August. Most of them, 2,867, concerned allegations that passengers refused to comply with the federal mask mandate that applies to public transport.
Cristian Santana, Shamar Walters and Michelle Acevedo contributed.
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