A United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Taipei, Taiwan turned around hours into its journey due to a “disruptive passenger” on Thursday, the airline said.
“Law enforcement officials met the aircraft on arrival and removed the passenger,” a United spokesperson told USA TODAY in an emailed statement. “The flight departed for Taipei later Thursday evening.” The airline did not share specifics about the passenger’s behavior.
The flight, which left from San Francisco International Airport, reversed course less than two hours after takeoff, according to the flight-tracking website FlightRadar24.
The incident is not the only one of its kind in recent months. A Delta Air Lines flight from Detroit to Amsterdam diverted to Boston because of an unruly passenger in May, and a United flight from Newark Liberty International Airport to Tel Aviv, Israel turned back because of a disruptive traveler in April.
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The rate of unruly-passenger incidents has dropped more than 80% after hitting record highs in 2021, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency received 2,455 reports of unruly passengers in 2022, down from 5,973 the previous year.
The FAA has received 1,034 reports of unruly passengers this year, as of July 16.
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.
