A United Airlines flight heading to Houston was forced to make an emergency landing 15 minutes after departure on Tuesday when a passenger tried to open the cabin door, according to a CNN report.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident where a regional aircraft had departed from an Indianapolis airport when it had to return after 15 minutes in the air, according to FlightAware, a site that tracks a flight’s status in real time.
The pilot of the plane told air traffic controllers that a passenger of UA Flight 3989 was acting “belligerent” and attempting to open the cabin door as other passengers tried to secure him in his seat.
The airplane safely landed at the Indianapolis airport and the passenger was “deplaned,” a spokesperson for Mesa Airlines told CNN.
The passenger was arrested by airport police, according to the Indianapolis Airport Authority, per CNN.
The plane continued its flight to Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport two hours behind schedule.
This is the latest instance of a flight being diverted because of passengers attempting to open doors. FAA data shows that 64 investigations have been initiated out of a total of 831 unruly-passenger incidents reported to the agency this year. These investigations have led to 49 “enforcement actions” and $1.2 million in fines to passengers. The agency describes “unruly” behavior as “failing to follow crew instructions or engaging in disruptive or violent behavior on a plane.”