An airline passenger caused a Southwest Airlines flight from Houston, Texas to Columbus, Ohio to make an emergency landing in Little Rock, Arkansas during the flight Saturday afternoon., November 26, 2022.
Passengers on Southwest Flight 192 did not get to their destination on time because a fellow passenger was uncooperative and tried to open a plane exit door mid-flight. According to a statement by the Federal Aviation Administration, the flight landed at the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock after the flight crew declared an emergency.
A statement from Southwest Airlines said that the flight was forced to land abruptly after the crew observed one of the passengers engaged in “unruly” behavior mid-flight. The passenger, a woman, assaulted another person on the plane.
After the emergency landing, an FBI agent for the Little Rock airport, the Transportation Security Administration, and local police officers went to the aircraft. They arrested the violent passenger. According to the statement by Southwest Airlines, she will face federal charges.
Conor Hagan, FBI Little Rock’s Public Affairs Officer, confirmed the incident, saying the federal agency was investigating it and one person was in custody.
According to Hagan, the FBI is authorized to investigate violations regarding assaults on planes mid-flight.
Police identified the passenger as Elom Agbegninou and said she started banging her head on the exit door and tried to release the handle, saying that Jesus wanted her to do it. She then bit a passenger who tried to restrain her.
After a short delay at the Little Rock Airport, the flight took off and landed safely at the John Glenn Columbus, Ohio International Airport.
Since the Covid pandemic, airlines have had several incidents of disruptive passengers, with 2021 being the worst year. The Federal Aviation Administration received nearly 6,000 reports of “unruly” passengers.
Delta Airlines has attempted to encourage other airlines to create a national “no-fly” list of all unruly passengers to help decrease incidents of disruptive behavior.
The FAA has received over 2,000 reports of disruptive passengers this year and has conducted over 750 investigations and 517 enforcement action cases.
