Summary
- An American Airlines flight was diverted due to a passenger vaping in violation of federal law.
- Despite the incident, the aircraft safely continued to its final destination with no injuries.
- The disruptive passenger was met by law enforcement upon arrival, causing a significant delay.
Multiple sources reported today that an
American Airlines
flight was forced to divert following a bizarre incident onboard, in which an unruly passenger was found to be vaping. Upon confrontation by the flight crew, the passenger reacted harshly, accusing them of acting antagonistically, and a subsequent altercation reportedly ensued, involving multiple other passengers.
As the passenger onboard was seated in first class, it was immediately obvious to the flight crew that he was actively vaping, an action which violates both US federal law and multiple flight safety statutes. As a result, the captain decided it would be best to order an emergency landing to offload the problematic passenger.
Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock
Despite the incident, the aircraft could perform a diversion and efficiently continue to its final destination, with no injuries reported onboard. No official police report has been released, and limited details are available regarding what happened to the passenger in question after arrival.
A non-routine diversion caused by problematic behavior
The flight in question was American Airlines Flight 1733, a scheduled nonstop flight from Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE) to the carrier’s fortress hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). The aircraft departed seven minutes early from Milwaukee at 5:22 PM, on the evening of September 3rd. The aircraft operating this flight was an Airbus A319.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
However, just over an hour and a half into the flight, according to reports from Live and Let’s Fly, a member of the cabin crew identified that a man sitting in the first-class cabin appeared to be openly vaping. The flight attendant confronted the man in question, reminding him that vaping onboard posed both a safety threat and that it was a violation of federal law.
The passenger reacted negatively, and he protested that the flight attendant was falsely accusing him of vaping onboard. While some sources have referred to this altercation as an “assault,” American Airlines confirmed to Simple Flying in a statement that the interaction was purely verbal.
Diversion and aftermath
As a result of this altercation, which reportedly involved multiple other passengers, the captain deemed it best to divert to Tulsa International Airport (TUL). The carrier had the following words to share in a statement relayed via email:
“American Airlines flight 1733, with service from Milwaukee, Wisconsin (MKE) to Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), diverted to Tulsa, Oklahoma (TUL) due to a disruptive customer. We thank our team for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.”
The aircraft touched down in Tulsa shortly after 7 PM local time, where the airline confirmed that law enforcement officials met the unruly passenger upon arrival. An hour later, around 8:30 PM, the aircraft took off for Dallas/Fort Worth, where it arrived just past 9 PM after a significant delay.
Photo: Philip Pilosian | Shutterstock
A total of 103 passengers and 5 crew members were reported to be onboard the flight that was affected by the delay. American Airlines further indicated that the situation was passed off to the Tulsa Police Department. Reports from Newsweek have indicated that vaping onboard an aircraft can result in fines exceeding $1,700.