An American Airlines jet was forced to make an emergency landing after an unruly passenger allegedly exposed himself before urinating down the aisle of the plane.
The perpetrator, a 25-year-old Oregon man who has not been named, was arrested after the plane diverted course from New Hampshire and returned back to Buffalo, New York, on Wednesday.
He was charged with indecent exposure and was released after appearing in a Buffalo federal court, the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York said.
The passenger reportedly told police he had drank several whiskey and colas before boarding his initial flight from Oregon, and continued drinking heavily during a layover in Chicago.
An American Airlines jet was forced to make an emergency landing in Buffalo, New York after an unruly passenger allegedly exposed himself before urinating down the aisle of the plane
American Airlines said after the lewd incident that the plane was able to restart its journey from Buffalo after the passenger was removed.
‘We thank our team members for their professionalism and our customers for their understanding,’ the airline said in a statement.
According to the reported criminal complaint, the passenger said that he got up to use the jet’s restroom when the issue occurred.
He said he was returning to his seat when he suffered a ‘medical urination problem.’
The travel chaos came as millions of Americans prepared to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday, with up to 32 million jetting across the nation to be with family and loved ones throughout this week.
It came the same day a Delta Airlines plane was also forced to make an emergency landing after dozens of passengers were served spoiled food.
Delta flight 136 was traveling from Detroit, Michigan to The Netherlands when it was diverted to JFK Airport early Wednesday morning after it was discovered that a portion of the in-flight meal service had been spoiled, a Delta spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
On the same day as the American Airlines emergency landing, a Delta Airlines flight en route to Amsterdam diverted to New York City’s JFK Airport after it was discovered that passengers were served ‘contaminated food’ during the in-flight meal service
One seemingly frustrated passenger from the flight took to social media, asking how the airline was ‘going to get me to Amsterdam today’ after it had to divert ‘because you served passengers “contaminated” food’ on the plane.
Delta apologized for the ‘inconvenience and delay’ the incident caused.
‘Medical crews were on site to meet the aircraft and treat any affected passengers and crew members,’ the airline said in a statement.
‘Delta teams will immediately work to gather information into how this incident occurred. This is not the service Delta is known for and we sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and delay in their travels.’
The airliner reportedly halted some meal options from its flights after the incident.