Authorities say airline passenger fought flight attendant, tried to open exit door midair
Cedar Rapids, Jul 18 (AP): A regional airline flight heading to Detroit had to make an emergency landing in eastern Iowa after a passenger fought with a flight attendant and tried to open an exit door midair, according to the pilot's communication with air traffic controllers.
The pilot of the SkyWest Airlines Flight 3612 contacted the tower at Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids shortly after 6 pm Thursday requesting to land because of a passenger causing a disturbance.
“He's in a fight with our flight attendant right now, trying to open the emergency exit,” the pilot said, according to audio captured by LiveATC.
The disturbance happened shortly after the SkyWest flight departed from Omaha, Nebraska, around 5.30 pm Thursday, according to police. The flight was diverted to and landed safely at the Cedar Rapids airport, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Once on the ground, local police boarded and arrested the 23-year-old Omaha man, Cedar Rapids police said.
The flight was able to travel on to Detroit later Thursday night, according to a statement issued by SkyWest Airlines, a Utah-based regional carrier that operates flights for major airlines like United, Delta, American and Alaska Airlines.
“SkyWest has zero tolerance for unruly behaviour as safety for our customers and crew is our top priority,” the statement read.
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
