A Zurich-bound flight was forced to return to New Jersey after an aggressive passenger attacked the crew and attempted to enter the cockpit, Swiss Airlines said.
Shortly after Swiss International Air Lines Flight LX19 took off from Newark Liberty International Airport Sunday evening around 9:55 p.m., the pilot of the Airbus A330 alerted fight control that one of the passengers was causing a ruckus.
“PAN-PAN, PAN-PAN, PAN-PAN,” the pilot was heard saying over the radio, aviation code for “possible assistance needed.”
The pilot told air traffic controllers that the passenger, who was “freely moving in the cabin,” was “getting worse” and had even tried to enter the cockpit, according to logged air traffic control audio.
“We don’t know if he can get aggressive toward passengers or crew,” the pilot said at one point.
The Airbus A330 landed back in Newark shortly before 11 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. All of the 236 passengers were re-booked on later flights to Zurich.
According to Swiss Airlines, the passenger, who remained unnamed, “behaved abusively towards the crew.” During the incident, one member of the cabin crew suffered minor injuries and was taken to hospital for assessment, a spokesperson for the airliner said.
Upon landing, the troublemaker was arrested by the New Jersey Port Authority and charged with assault and interfering with transportation. The passenger was released with a court desk appearance, the agency said in a statement.
Passengers Making Trouble
In 2021, the FAA abandoned its practice of issuing warning letters or counseling for disruptive passengers after the number of unruly passenger incidents exploded during the COVID pandemic era and has been issuing hefty fines instead.
That year, the agency recorded almost 6,000 incidents, compared to 1,000 the year before. That number has since gone down, but it remains twice as high as it was before the pandemic, according to FAA data.
In 2022, the FAA announced its zero-tolerance policy was here to stay.
The FAA can fine unruly passengers up to $37,000 per policy violation—not per incident. Since its zero-tolerance policy came into effect, the agency has issued over $8 million in fines.
In 2022, a woman returned home with a record $82,000 fine for attacking—spitting at, punching, and even biting—crew and passengers on an American Airlines flight from Texas to North Carolina.
Unruly behavior can further impact travelers’ TSA PreCheck eligibility or land offenders on an internal no-fly list for an airline, the FAA said.
“Unruly passenger incidents are referred to the FBI when warranted and can earn you a felony conviction,” the agency added.
