Couple Arrested After Disrupting Delta Flight From MSP To LAX
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – An Edina woman remains in custody after she and a man disrupted a Delta Air Lines flight headed from Minneapolis to Los Angeles Wednesday night, causing it to be delayed.
According to MSP officials, the incident occurred on Delta flight 2565 from Minneapolis to Los Angeles.
The flight departed MSP at 6:20 p.m., but returned at 7:35 p.m. after 35-year-old Blake Adam Fleisig, of Los Angeles, and 36-year-old Christine Anne Koosmann were being disruptive.
WARNING: Video Contains Strong Language
Cellphone video taken by passenger Patrick Whalen shows a couple being escorted off the flight by several police officers.
"In my a million miles on Delta, I've never seen anything like this," Whalen said. "The captain gets on and says, 'If people in the back don't start following instructions of the flight crew, I'm going to turn the plane around.'"
Whalen says a flight attendant told him Koosmann had tried to use the bathroom shortly after takeoff and became physical when she was told to stay seated. The couple was given one more warning before the flight turned around.
"When you turn a plane around, you know international flights have slots, so they can't wait, so all those people missed their flights," Whalen said.
Passengers cheered as the couple were removed. Fleisig appeared to get physical with another passenger in the video, while the woman curses.
Fleisig was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, brawling or fighting. Koosmann was also arrested on charges of disorderly conduct.
Delta officials released this statement Thursday morning regarding the incident:
"The flight crew of Delta 2565 from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Los Angeles elected to return to Minneapolis shortly after takeoff when two passengers refused to follow crew instructions, became aggressive and created a disruption in the cabin. The passengers were removed by local law enforcement. The flight re-departed without further incident. The safety of Delta customers and employees is our top priority."
Whalen says he appreciates the response of the flight crew.
"They handled it very well," Whalen said. "All of the passengers were ready to go back there and take matters into their own hands."
MSP officials said Fleisig cooperated with police and was released Wednesday night. Koosman was not being cooperative and is currently being held in Hennepin County Detention Center.
Unruly passengers are not unusual, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which tracks data across all airlines.
In 2015, 103 passengers interfered on a flight, which is down from 183 in 2012.
Delta banned a man for life in November after his rant on a flight about Donald Trump. The airline apologized to passengers, and in a statement said the "customer should not have been allowed to continue on the flight."