Woman's drunk, unruly behavior on plane prompts Southwest flight to make emergency landing
Flying during the holidays can be stressful, as airports become chaotic and weather is less reliable. But for passengers on a Southwest flight from Nashville to Phoenix on Saturday, a drunk and disorderly passenger was probably not what they were expecting to be the cause of their diverted plane.
According to a spokesperson from Southwest, Flight 4933 was operating on time and everything seemed to be running smoothly until attendants began receiving complaints from passengers that a woman onboard, Caleena Johnson, was threatening them. The airline’s employees went over to Johnson to ask her to calm down, and she then became belligerent toward the staff, local Oklahoma City news station KOKH reported.
Although Johnson allegedly continued to verbally harass others onboard, it was her profanity toward flight attendants and refusal to follow their instructions that ultimately led to the flight’s emergency landing in Oklahoma City.
Southwest tells Yahoo Lifestyle that the diversion was necessary “to allow local authorities to meet the flight and remove a passenger who was not following the instructions of the flight crew, a federal requirement.”
The flight was held at Oklahoma City for 45 minutes. However, Johnson allegedly continued her erratic behavior for some time with police. Reports say that she used the same verbal assaults with police as she had done on the plane, even telling them, “I hope you die a slow and painful death.”
The 36-year-old from Knoxville, Tenn., then used her feet to kick out the back window of the police car as police were driving her to the Oklahoma County Jail. The woman was eventually booked on disorderly conduct, public drunkenness and destruction of city property.
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
• 11-year-old gets past airport security and tries to board flight without ticket, almost succeeds
• ‘Human rights lawyer’ gets arrested after racist rant on flight: ‘If I say, “Boycott f***ing Air India,” done’
• Flight attendant breastfed passenger’s baby midflight after mother runs out of formula
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