Chicago-Bound Flight Diverted to Detroit for Unruly Passenger

A combative woman accused of assaulting several airline passengers on a Chicago-bound flight from New York was carried off a plane — her hands and feet bound by police — after an emergency landing in Detroit Thursday night.

Matthew Goldgraben, of New York, told WXYZ Detroit he was sitting next to the woman when the flight attendant spilled a drink. He said the woman reacted as if the flight attendant were attacking her, screamed at her, and scratched her face and throat.

Passengers said four people seated nearby subdued her with belts and seat-belt extenders.

United Express Flight 3461, carrying 69 passengers and four crew members, diverted to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport at about 8:15 p.m. Two officers boarded and bound the woman’s hands and feet and then carried her off the plane. The flight eventually landed at Chicago O’Hare International Airport at 9:45 p.m.

Detroit police said the woman may have been suffering a medical condition.

A passenger provided cellphone video of the passenger’s arrest to NBC Chicago. CBS Chicago interviewed one of the passengers who described the scene.