'Unruly' elderly blind man causes emergency landing and flight delay
PA
An elderly partially blind man who displayed unruly behaviour after becoming frightened on board a plane caused an emergency landing - making a Spirit Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Florida take 19 hours in the process.
The plane took off from LAX on Saturday night heading to Fort Lauderdale when the pilot took the decision to divert to Houston, Texas, after the man, 86, started kicking and screaming, according to Fox News.
Spirit Airlines says Flight 310 landed at George Bush International Airport early on Sunday due to a "disruptive customer".
According to The Washington Post, police spokesman Kese Smith said the man was travelling alone and only spoke French.
Mr Smith explained the man became scared and swung at other passengers.
Police found an interpreter and contacted the man's son, who flew to Houston and accompanied his dad to Florida.
Spirit Airlines spokeswoman Misty Pinson said the man refused to follow instructions given by the cabin crew, so the decision was made to divert the plane for the safety of everybody on board.
She added that passengers were put on a new flight, which arrived in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday evening.
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