A traveler who breaks through the cockpit door and tries to hijack the plane is usually the stuff of plane horror movies from the 1970s and 1980s. Usually, a flight attendant or fellow passenger acts fast to hold the attacker down and save the day as the plane lands safely.
Occasionally, however, such instances occur in real life both before and after takeoff. On Sept. 8, a United Airlines (UAL) -) flight going to Los Angeles International Airport was preparing to take off from Chicago's O'Hare Airport when a passenger started moving through the plane while trying to open the flight deck and exit doors.
Related: Terror in the Sky: Southwest Flight Forced to Divert Over Bomb Threat
As the Federal Aviation Administration later explained in a statement, the Boeing 737 (BA) -) had to turn back toward the gate due to an "unruly passenger" who had broken one of the strictest rules of plane travel. Those without a clear need to be there are not permitted in the cockpit while anyone's attempt to go around this is seen as a Level 4 threat that requires air crew to take "immediate and decisive action" to protect the flight and those aboard.
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'The passenger was not successful,' FAA reassures travelers
Without elaborating on the traveler's suspected reasons for attempting to open the doors, the FAA said that the plane was able to go back to the gate for law enforcement to make an arrest.
"The passenger was not successful, and law enforcement greeted the unruly passenger at the gate," the FAA said in a statement.
While most flights with an "unruly passenger incident" are able to continue after the passenger's removal, the severity around trying to breach the cockpit has led to a full cancelation.
The other travelers were rebooked on other flights but, given the fact that UA1641 was scheduled to take off at 9 p.m., they likely had to wait until the next morning to get to their final destinations.
While this incident is one of the most extreme examples, incidents of "unruly passengers" have been on the rise overall. The last annual report from the International Air Transport Association found that there was one "unruly passenger" incident for every 835 U.S. flights in 2021 while the number rose to one in every 568 flights by 2022.
Here are some of the 'unruly passenger' incidents on the rise this year
Verbally abusing flight attendants and other cabin crew, fighting with fellow passengers and disregarding anti-smoking and anti-vaping laws are some of the most common violations. Most often, they result in removal from a flight but not criminal charges or a flying ban.
But in the last few weeks, there have also been a few high-profile incidents of passengers creating much more serious threats. At the end of August, a traveler on an Avelo Airlines flight was in the process of disembarking when Kenneth Lee Szogas told them that he had placed an explosive underneath a seat. (After anti-terrorism crews did not find the explosive, Szogas was arrested over making false bomb threats.)
In July, a Southwest Airlines (LUV) -) flight from Las Vegas to Hawaii had to divert to California after a passenger sent a bomb threat to a flight attendant's cell phone. No explosives were found and the passenger was similarly arrested on charges related to disturbing the safety of a plane and making false statements.
