A flight from New York to California was diverted after a passenger allegedly attacked a flight attendant, left her bloodied, and sent her to the hospital.
American Airlines Flight 976 was over Ohio after leaving John F. Kennedy International Airport bound for John Wayne Airport in Orange County late Wednesday evening when the passenger allegedly attacked a flight attendant in first class over a mask dispute, CBS LA reported.
“I saw her walk by and she had blood on the outside of her mask, which bless her, she was still wearing,” said Mackenzie Rose, a passenger on the flight, according got CBS LA. After the plane landed in Denver, the suspect was apprehended and taken into custody by law enforcement, 1010 WINS reported.
“There was a doctor on the flight luckily, so I don’t know,” another witness told ABC7. “He said [her nose] wasn’t broken but she was bleeding so they took her to the hospital.” The plane eventually arrived to its final destination in Orange County. (RELATED: Airplane Evacuated And Sprayed Down At LaGuardia After Reports Of Suspicious Package)
#UPDATE: Witnesses said a a man suspected of attacking a female flight attendant, causing the American Airline’s flight from JFK to John Wayne to divert to Denver, was having a dispute about wearing a mask. https://t.co/SyrtNVZudS pic.twitter.com/NDtQuEJuIj
— CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) October 28, 2021
“We have engaged local law enforcement and the FBI and we are working with them to ensure they have all the information they need,” the airline said in a statement. “The individual involved in this incident will never be allowed to travel with American Airlines in the future, but we will not be satisfied until he has been prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
Earlier in October, the Federal Aviation Administration reported that unruly behavior aboard aircraft had decreased, FOX Business reported.