A United Airlines flight bound for Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport (AMS) had to divert to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport (ORD) when a business class passenger had a meltdown over the airline’s meal choices.
Flight UA 20 departed from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) at 16:20 local time and was bound for AMS airport on July 9, 2023.
Based on a report from View from the Wing, the passenger who was in seat 11G in the aircraft’s business class cabin became disruptive and enraged over the meal choice on board the flight.
Flight tracking site flightradar24 was able to track the Boeing 777 aircraft dumping fuel while circling, before landing at ORD airport.
A fellow business class passenger was able to take and upload a two-minute video clip of the moment the passenger lost his temper.
The passenger can be clearly seen in the footage and his rants are inaudible. The uploader wrote: “Unhappy passenger losing his cool over a perceived slight about his meal starts on the flight attendants and goes to other passengers. We were in the air.”
“We got to stop in Chicago to let this super nice guy off the plane. He continued to laugh and antagonize the United crew after these, and they handled it with such calm!” the poster wrote.
A message from United’s internal communication was later posted to Twitter and shows that the disruptive passenger was deemed to be a “Threat Level 1”.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) defines this as the lowest level of threat on a flight, which constitutes “disruptive behavior” that is “suspicious or threatening”. According to the FAA, Level 1 disruptive behavior means that the passenger exhibits suspicious or threatening behavior.
United Airlines confirmed the incident to The Guardian.
“United flight 20 from George Bush Intercontinental Airport to Amsterdam diverted to O’Hare International Airport and landed safely following a passenger disturbance. Law enforcement met the aircraft at the gate and escorted the passenger off the plane. The aircraft then continued to Amsterdam,” the airline said.
