An American Airlines plane was forced to make an emergency landing after an unruly passenger allegedly exposed himself before urinating in the aisle of the plane.
The perpetrator, a 25-year-old Oregon man whose name has not been released, was arrested after the plane veered off course from New Hampshire and returned to Buffalo, New York, on Wednesday.
He was charged with indecent exposure and was released after appearing in federal court in Buffalo, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York said.
The passenger reportedly told police he had drank several whiskeys and colas before boarding his initial flight from Oregon and continued drinking heavily during a stopover in Chicago.
An American Airlines plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Buffalo, New York, after an unruly passenger allegedly exposed himself before urinating in the aisle of the plane.
American Airlines said after the lewd incident that the plane was able to resume 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 criminal complaint filed, the passenger said he got up to use the plane’s bathroom when the problem occurred.
He said he was returning to his seat when he experienced a “medical issue while urinating.”
The travel chaos came as millions of Americans prepared to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday, with as many as 32 million traveling across the country to be with family and loved ones this week.
It happened on the same day that 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 after a portion of the in-flight meal service was found to have 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 was diverted to New York City’s JFK Airport after passengers were found to have been served “contaminated food” during in-flight meal service.
One apparently frustrated passenger on the flight took to social media, asking how the airline was “going to get me to Amsterdam today” after having to divert “because it served passengers ‘contaminated’ food on the plane.”
Delta apologized for the “inconvenience and delays” caused by the incident.
“Medical teams were on site to receive the aircraft and treat the affected passengers and crew members,” the airline said in a statement.
“Delta teams will work immediately to gather information on how this incident occurred. This is not the service Delta is known for and we sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and delays to their travels.”
The airline reportedly suspended some food options on its flights following the incident.