A reportedly 42-year-old unruly and irate female passenger caused JetBlue Flight 185 from New York to San Diego on Thursday night to have to divert to Denver. Some of the 137 passengers on board of Flight 185 told reporters in San Diego that a woman got really angry and started an argument with the flight crew after a man was moved to her premium section row at the front of the plane without having to pay the extra $65. The male passenger had been allowed to move because his TV monitor didn’t work.
According to Denver’s ABC 7News report on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013, the unruly female passenger became angry that the man was moved to her premium section that had more leg room without having to pay extra and she got into an argument with the flight crew.
“Witnesses say the irate woman began to yell at the male passenger and became out of control. They say flight attendants were unable to calm her down.”
Some of the passengers on JetBlue Flight 185 said that a federal Air Marshall intervened and that is when the flight was diverted.
FlightAware air tracking showed the plane's normal flight path diverted over eastern Nebraska.
JetBlue Flight 185 which is an Airbus A320 landed safely in Denver at 7:15 p.m. The unruly passenger was escorted to an area of Concourse A at Denver’s International Airport (DIA) and questioned by uniformed Denver Police officers. “The woman was pulling her carry-on luggage with her. Police radio traffic said she is 42 years old and was seated in the second row of the plane.”
Passengers applauded when authorities escorted the unruly and irate passenger off the plane in Denver.
After the unruly passenger had been escorted off the plane, the passengers of JetBlue Flight 185 were able to re-board and the plane was able to leave DIA at 9:29 p.m. Denver time, 8:29 p.m. San Diego time
Having left the unruly passenger behind in Denver, JetBlue Flight 185 landed safely at San Diego’s Lindbergh Field at 10:38 p.m. The flight was originally scheduled to arrive in San Diego at 8:10 p.m.
Upon arrival at San Diego’s airport, the passengers of the diverted flight were greeted by reporters.
During San Diego’s 11 p.m. 10News broadcast on Thursday night, some passengers commented in interviews that the woman got really angry, that she said that her father was in the CIA, and that she didn’t care what would happen.
One passenger said that “It was quite an adventure.”
JetBlue commented that the incident is a customer service issue and that no charges have been filed.
Update: On Friday morning, Feb. 1, 2013, San Diego's 10News posted a video including the interview with the two passengers of JetBlue Flight 185.
"'I mean she was just very aggressive and belligerent and so upset over the whole situation, swearing at everyone around her, the passengers, the stewardesses, yelling things like, 'My dad is in the CIA!' it just went out of control so quickly,' said one passenger who sat across the aisle from the woman. 'There's clearly something going on with her…. It was out of control'."
"She got mad about leg space, I don't really know, but she went crazy and started screaming, it was an adventure," said another passenger.
San Diego's 10News also stated that "Police said via Twitter Friday that they didn't charge the woman. Officers did a records check on the woman, found she had no warrants and then escorted her from the concourse. She wasn't identified. ... Yet, because neither Jet Blue nor the male passenger wanted to press charges, Murray said police used their discretion to not charge the woman. A disruptive passenger can be charged with a federal offense of interfering with a flight crew or a misdemeanor state offense of disturbing the peace."
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