An unruly passenger forced Swiss flight #LX19 to Zurich to return to New Jersey’s Newark Airport.
Swiss Air Flight 19 took off from Newark Liberty International Airport at 22:18 EDT Sunday, March 31 2024 and climbed to 21,000 to North-East.
But the pilot soon reported that one of the 233 passengers was causing a trouble in the cabin, several media reported.
After walking through the cabin, the passenger became abusive toward the crew, and tried to enter the cockpit, officials said.
The pilot of the Airbus A330 (registration HB-JHI) told ATC “We couldn’t restrain the passenger. He is freely moving through the cabin”.
The crew then declared “PAN PAN PAN” and requested an immediate return to Newark Airport.
According to a recording of the call obtained from LiveATC.net, the pilot told the air traffic controller that the situation was “getting worse”.
An airline spokesman said one of the crew members was injured in the incident and taken to a local hospital, Swiss Info reported.
The passenger behaved abusively towards the crew. The flight was canceled and the passengers would be re-booked.
Swiss Air statement
The airbus A330 landed back on runway 22R at Newark Airport 42 minutes after departure.
The pilot told the controller that the plane’s brakes overheated as a result of the overweight landing and requested that firefighters inspect the landing gear.
The passenger, whose identity has not been released, was met by police in Newark.
