Unruly passengers force flight to Los Angeles to return to Hawaii

March 20, 2019, 23:14 GMT

By Caitlin Fichtel and Jareen Imam

A Hawaiian Airlines Honolulu flight to Los Angeles was forced to turn around mid-flight on Tuesday night due to an altercation between "two unruly passengers," according to the airline.

A verbal altercation that began after a passenger struck another passenger while the reclining seat quickly became long, announced several passengers of the flight.

Justin Moore-Brown, 35, of Redondo Beach, CA, told NBC News that he had begun to hear screams behind him about two and a half hours after the flight began.

Moore-Brown said, "Two men started screaming at each other and when one of them went away, he pointed the woman sitting with the man and told him to "stay out of this. "

In the end, one of the passengers charged the other, said Stanson Chung.

Chung, 30, who was returning to Los Angeles after attending a wedding in Hawaii, said he saw a passenger running in the aisle of a plane. It was then that a flight attendant intervened and attempted to restrain one of the passengers, Chung said.

Several passengers told NBC News that they thought that the flight attendant involved in an attempt to immobilize a passenger may have suffered a slight injury. however, no injuries were officially declared after the incident, according to the airline.

Chung filmed the passengers' video of the flight when a loudspeaker announced that "the situation required us to use our security procedures and return to Honolulu."

"Everyone gave a collective sigh, we just could not believe it, some people had connections, others had to work the next day, like me." We asked the hostess to do it. air: "Should we really go back? "Chung said.

The Honolulu-Los Angeles flight takes about 5 hours. According to Chung, the plane had already more than two hours of flight when the incident occurred.

The flight crew also asked passengers to bring their carry-on baggage to the Honolulu terminal and said the airline would arrange for their boarding on a new flight.

Hawaiian Airlines said in a statement after the incident.

"Hawaiian Airlines Flight 2 departed Honolulu for Los Angeles at 2:50 pm local time. About two hours after the start of the flight, the captain decided to return the aircraft to Honolulu due to two unruly passengers. Local law enforcement forces met the aircraft upon arrival at 18:38. There were 276 passengers and 11 crew members on board. Safety is our priority, and we apologize for our inconvenience. The new departure time is 20 hours "

Once the plane landed in Honolulu, the two men who had been fighting were escorted.