LAX Flight Diverted; Unruly Passenger Arrested

LOS ANGELES, CA — An unruly airline passenger forced a Los Angeles-bound flight to be diverted to Oklahoma City Thursday, and he's facing possible federal charges.

Ariel Pennington, 35, of Washington, D.C., was arrested upon landing in Oklahoma City on suspicion of disorderly conduct and public drunkenness. He has also been accused of assaulting an air marshal and a flight attendant, which could lead to federal assault charges, according to Fox 11.

The ruckus occurred on Delta Flight 342 on the way from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles International Airport.

Authorities have not said what led up to the alleged incident. In video of the altercation posted to social media, a maskless man can be seen arguing with officials, being wrestled into his seat and eventually escorted off the plane by law enforcement.

According to news reports, at some point the passenger became combative and allegedly assaulted a flight attendant. An air marshal intervened and the passenger then attacked the marshal, who was eventually able to subdue him.

Delta Flight 342 eventually took off again and landed at LAX just after 10:30 p.m. Thursday.

The flight attendant and air marshal were not seriously injured, CBS 2 is reporting.

"Delta applauds the quick action and professionalism of the crew and federal air marshals on Delta flight 324 from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles, which diverted to Oklahoma City after a customer became unruly and was removed from the flight by local law enforcement," the airline said in a statement that was reported by CBS 2. "We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience."

City News Service