Delta flight enroute to Detroit diverted to Canada due to unruly passenger

(CBS DETROIT) – A man is facing charges after his unruly behavior on a Delta Air Lines flight headed to Detroit caused the plane to be diverted to Canada. 

At about 10:54 local time, Delta Dispatch in Atlanta notified the Stephenville International Airport in Canada that DAL97 was diverting, according to Lew Short, Chief Executive Officer of the Stephenville Airport Corporation said. 

The plane, heading from Paris to Detroit with 271 people on board, was being diverted due to an unruly, violent and intoxicated passenger. 

Short says the passenger has been identified as Ahmed Omar Amaden, a 34-year-old citizen of the United States. 

When the plane landed at 12:32 p.m., Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested Amaden and removed him from the aircraft.

“Delta has zero tolerance for unruly behavior, especially when it potentially compromises the safety of our customers and flight crew,” a Delta spokesperson said in a statement regarding the incident.

He was charged with unlawfully engaging in behavior that endangers safety by interfering with duty of crew and unlawfully engaging in behavior that endangers safety by lessening ability of crew to perform duty. 

Short says Amaden appeared in court in Stephenville on June 5.

Last year there were more than 2,300 reports of unruly passenger behavior, according to US Federal Aviation Administration statistics. Since late 2021, the FAA has referred more than 250 cases to the FBI for criminal review, the agency said.

The FAA has received reports of at least 740 unruly airline passengers in 2023 as of May 28, the transportation agency’s statistics showed.