A Flight Was Forced to Turn Around After a Passenger’s Tantrum Over Meals and Seating

• A recent flight to Italy was disrupted by a passenger who was upset about getting the wrong onboard meal.
• Before the plane turned back to the U.S., the man tried to charge into the cockpit.
• Passengers were stranded at their original airport for eight hours until their flight could take off again the next morning.

Passengers on board a transatlantic American Airlines flight from New York City to Milan earlier this month were nearly at the the halfway mark of their eight-hour journey when they learned their plane was making a U-turn back to the U.S.

The reason: one disruptive passenger, whose tantrum was reportedly sparked over an in-flight meal order gone wrong, according to a CBS News report. 

The flight departed on April 7 from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) at 7:07 p.m. local time, landing back at the same airport at 3:02 a.m., FlightAware data showed. Eventually the same flight number took off again on April 8 at 11:22 a.m., with the passengers arriving at Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) at 12:12 a.m. local time.

A passenger told the network the debacle started because the unruly passenger didn’t get their meal of choice, explaining that they requested the meal before the flight. But that wasn’t the only issue. “They also wanted to sit in an exit row,” they added. “They had a baby with them, so they told them they couldn’t and apparently those two things are what pushed the person over the edge.” 

For those on board, the entire journey was filled with anxiety. “They were telling everyone that there were technical issues on the plane, which is even scarier,” another passenger told the network. The real reason became clear when the man “charged past all of our seats and tried to barge into the pilot’s cabin,” they said. 

A passenger said the guy remained at the back of the plane, unrestrained. “The guy was still in the back of the plane unprotected, unrestrained, which was a little bit scary considering we had a plane full of 300 people and there was no air marshal on board, and we’ve got this crazy man in the back,” a they said. 

The Dallas-based airline told People, “The safety of our customers and team members is our top priority and we expect our customers to comply with federal regulations to follow crew member instructions.” The company also added that their intention wasn’t to disrupt anyone’s travel plans and thanked those on board for their understanding. (At the time of publishing, American Airlines did not respond to Travel + Leisure for a comment.)