A Delta Air Lines passenger forced a China-bound flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai to divert to Washington state on Sunday after crew members warned the traveler multiple times to comply with flight instructions.
Delta flight 39 was carrying 271 passengers when the large aircraft was turned toward Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for the safety of the aircraft and everyone on board. Law enforcement officers met the plane at the gate after it landed, but it was not immediately clear what the passenger did to disrupt the flight or whether any charges were filed on arrival.
The trip had started as a routine long-haul service from Los Angeles to Shanghai, but it ended with travelers spending the night in Seattle and waiting for a replacement flight on Monday. The diversion added another case to a recent string of unruly airline customers, including a separate incident on Friday in which a belligerent passenger who bit a flight attendant forced a Dallas-bound Qantas flight to divert to Tahiti.
For Delta, the decision to divert was the kind made when a cabin problem crosses the line from disruption to risk. It also reflected a pattern airlines have been dealing with more often, the same kind of friction that has pushed travel headaches into public view in stories such as a prior report on an unruly aircraft passenger forcing Delta flight 39 to Seattle, along with broader passenger-related disruptions that continue to test crews across long-haul routes.
The unanswered question now is not where the flight went, but what happened in the cabin that made it serious enough to pull a full, China-bound aircraft off course. By Monday, the travelers were expected to be back on their way to Shanghai.
