A cross-country Alaska Airlines flight was diverted to Denver after an intoxicated passenger became abusive and began to yell threats at flight crew and other passengers, the airline said late Tuesday.
The incident began Tuesday evening when Flight 769 was en route to San Diego from Boston after a male passenger "became disruptive" after being told he couldn't drink the alcohol he brought onboard, Clair Conroy, one passenger, recalled, according to Newsmax.
"He got very belligerent, saying, 'OK, but you know that now we are all going to die.' He kept saying, 'I'm not a terrorist but we're going to die.' He then started making threats at the passengers," Conroy explained.
The situation further escalated after the man was told by flight attendants to calm down, prompting him to start threatening flight crew.
"He was told to calm down by flight crew, and then became agitated and verbally abusive, even issuing a threat to flight crew," airline spokeswoman Ann Zaninovich said, according to NBC News.
Despite the Boeing 737 being more than three hours into its flight and cruising at an altitude of 32,000 feet in the air, the pilot made a decision taken "out of an abundance of caution" to divert the plane to the closest airport, which happened to be in Denver.
Police boarded the plane and escorted the man off the flight as passengers cheered.
The flight was delayed for about 45 minutes before resuming its journey to San Diego, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Heath Montgomery, spokesman for Denver International Airport, cited a "possible passenger disturbance" as the cause for the flight diversion, adding that no charges have been brought against the passenger in relation to the incident.
