A flight returned to Kennedy Airport shortly after it took off for Los Angeles Tuesday evening so that authorities could remove a disruptive passenger, an airline spokesman says.
American Airlines Flight 83 returned to JFK Airport about 45 minutes after takeoff when a passenger became disruptive, airline spokesman Ross Feinstein told NBC 4 New York.
The plane landed safely at JFK at about 7:20 p.m. and taxied to the gate in Terminal 8, Feinstein said. Authorities removed the passenger and redeparted shortly afterward.
Law enforcement sources say the initial report came in as two passengers fighting on the plane. EMS and police were dispatched to the plane and transported the passenger, a woman, to a local hospital, where she's being evaluated.
Ninety-seven passengers and eight crew members were on board the Airbus A321 aircraft, according to the airline.
A message has been left with Port Authority, the agency that oversees the airport.
Unruly passengers have become disruptive and costly: the cost of unscheduled landings to disembark or deliver passengers typically is borne by airlines and can be $10,000 and $200,000, a spokesman for the International Air Transport Association told NBC earlier this year. American Airlines said at the time that it makes its decision to go after disruptive passengers on a case by case basis.
The FAA has received thousands of complaints about disruptive passengers from 2001 through 2014, but only 11 percent were prosecuted, NBC Bay Area has reported.
