'Thought It Was The End': US Flight With Unruly Passenger Descends Nearly 9,500 Meters in 8 Minutes

American Airlines Flight 1775 from California's Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Reagan National Airport (DCA) in Washington, DC, was diverted to Kansas City International Airport (MCI) after making an unplanned, emergency diversion on Sunday afternoon. At least one person was detained by authorities upon landing.

A spokesperson for American Airlines confirmed in a same-day statement that an unruly passenger triggered the abrupt diversion of Flight 1775 on Sunday, approximately three hours after the flight departed LAX at 9:15 a.m. PT.

"American Airlines flight 1775 with service from Los Angeles (LAX) to Washington, DC (DCA) diverted to Kansas City (MCI) due to an unruly passenger," the spokesperson detailed. "We’re grateful to our crew members, who are consistently dedicated to the safety and care of our customers and who handled the circumstances with the utmost skill and professionalism."

The diverted flight landed safely at MCI around 2:28 p.m. CT, the spokesperson confirmed.

No injury report accompanied the release.

Officers with the Federal Bureau of Investigation were reportedly on the MCI tarmac, as unruly passengers on commercial flights are subject to federal charges.

Although officials have yet to detail what led to the in-flight altercation, Twitter user Mouaz Moustafa (@SoccerMouaz) in several social media posts detailed that passengers of Flight 1775 assisted American Airlines crew members in subduing the suspect.

As the altercation ensued, pilots diverted the flight, prompting a descent of approximately 30,900 feet (9,418 meters) in less than eight minutes.

"Everyone on the plane thought it was the end for everybody," Mouaz detailed, noting that passengers struggled to restrain the man as the Airbus A321 made its diversion.

Here is a video of our flights path as we descended from 30,900 feet in less than 8 minutes as we spirals passengers struggled to hold the man. Everyone on the plane thought it was the end for everybody #AA1775 pic.twitter.com/uqlSCJlhRQ

— Mouaz Moustafa (@SoccerMouaz) February 13, 2022

At one point, a coffee pot was reportedly weaponized to make the unruly passenger comply.

The offending passenger was seen bloodied as authorities wearing gloves carried him off the aircraft.

passengers held the individual and a flight attendant used a coffee pot to subdue him as the plane descended rapidly. the man was bleeding as the police in this video are taking him off the flight after landing in Kansas #AA1775 pic.twitter.com/HL2JnyYglw

— Mouaz Moustafa (@SoccerMouaz) February 13, 2022

Passengers were reportedly free to continue their respective trips to Washington, DC, after providing witness interviews with FBI agents.