(WXYZ) — A plane traveling from Paris to Detroit Metro Airport was diverted to Canada Friday because of an unruly passenger.
An official with the Stephenville Dymond International Airport confirms to 7 Action News that Delta Flight DL097, which was scheduled to land at DTW, instead diverted to Stephenville, Canada, after the incident on board. The captain radioed that there was an emergency at 12:33 local Canadian time, the airport official says.
Delta confirms that an incident occurred on Flight 97, which has regularly scheduled service between Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris and Detroit. The aircraft is a Airbus A330-300 with 261 passengers onboard.
A Canadian airport official told us a 34-year-old man from the United States was restrained by airline personnel, but then broke free. Around five to six passengers then reportedly jumped in to restrain the passenger until the flight landed.
“There was someone being violent and they wouldn’t calm down. We wanted to get here as soon as possible. It was scary for a little bit,” said passenger Dena Haddad.
“When we arrived to Canada and saw the police cars, we felt secured and fine,” said another passenger.
“He was ready to throw hands. The whole back of the plane was interacting with him,” said a third.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Customs arrested the man.
Delta Flight 97 took off from Stephenville and landed at DTW around 3:35 p.m.
Delta issued the following statement:
Delta has zero tolerance for unruly behavior, especially when it potentially compromises the safety of our customers and flight crew. This unruly customer was removed at Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador, and remanded to the custody of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
