Chaos erupted on a JetBlue flight from Fort Lauderdale to Boston when an unruly passenger's behavior prompted an unscheduled landing in Orlando. The disturbance started when a man, claiming to be the devil, began making threats and assaulted a woman accompanying him.
Flight 170 was forced to divert to Orlando International Airport late Thursday night after passengers witnessed the man turning violent. JetBlue confirmed to WHDH that the disruptive individual was escorted off the aircraft by law enforcement. "We had a disruptive, violent passenger in the back," the pilot can be heard saying over the intercom in a video shared by a passenger on Twitter.
The deeply concerning incident further unfolded as attendants hurriedly placed the assaulted woman in the aircraft’s bathroom for safety, while her attacker pounded on the door trying to forcibly retrieve her. “They put her inside the bathroom, and he tried to punch the door and take her out of the bathroom. It was pretty scary," a passenger told WCVB.
After the incident, all passengers had to deplane to allow the aircraft to refuel, and a new crew was brought in to continue the journey, but JetBlue remarked that this "uncontrollable disruption" unfortunately would not qualify for compensation. "This disruption is considered an uncontrollable disruption; meaning it's due to events outside of JetBlue's control (things like Air Traffic Control or weather disruptions) and, unfortunately, does not qualify for customer compensation or reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses," an email from JetBlue stated according to a passenger's sharing of the message.
The originally scheduled arrival time in Boston was significantly pushed back, with passengers reaching their destination at 4:30 a.m instead of the planned 12:35 a.m. The identity of the man who caused the commotion has not been released to the public.
