One passenger was taken into custody on Friday evening in the wake of them threatening to attack other passengers on the Frontier Flight slated to fly from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport headed to Tampa.
The flight was forced to divery and land in Atlanta due to passengers rushing to tell the crew about the ongoing ordeal when the insane passenger went to the bathroom. The suspect’s identity has not been made public as of yet.
“When he went to go to the bathroom the passenger in the window seat looked at me said, ‘Hey he has a knife and he told me he was threatening to stab people we need to say something to somebody,’” stated one woman on the flight in a release to a local news outlet. “So I went up and talked to the flight attendants in the front of the airplane and let them know like this guy has a box knife and he’s been telling us he wants to stab people.”
Law enforcement officials were able to discover the box cutter still on the passenger’s person and reportedly discovered a second blade of the same kind in his carry-on bag.
WLWT reported that the passengers were removed from the plane and were given hotel rooms un they could be shifted over to a new flight.
“No injuries to passengers or crew have been reported,” stated a report from Frontier Airlines. “The aircraft landed safely in Atlanta and the passenger in question was taken into custody by Atlanta Law Enforcement.”
A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) SPokesperson spoke out about the ordeal via a release that claimed that federal law enforcement officials have kicked off an investigation regarding the matter.
“TSA takes its role in transportation security very seriously,” explained the statement. “The situation with the Frontier flight is under investigation with the US Attorney’s Office, as they are the lead federal agency in this matter. TSA has started an internal review of the incident by viewing CCTV, airport security checkpoint processes/operations and will continue to provide updates as they are available. TSA can confirm that blades are prohibited in the cabin, but allowed in checked luggage.”
This marks the second major incident from the area over the course of the past two days as a pair of World War II-era planes crashed into each other during a Texan airshow this past Saturday.
The planes were part of the Wings Over Dallas World War II Airshow hosted Saturday in order to honor Veterans Day.
“A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and a Bell P-63 Kingcobra collided and crashed at the Wings Over Dallas Airshow at Dallas Executive Airport in Texas around 1:20 p.m. local time Saturday,” expressed a statement from the FAA. “At this time, it is unknown how many people were on both aircraft.”
