A Chicago flight was diverted late last night after fisticuffs broke out among a number of passengers.
Six people onboard a Southwest Airlines plane that took off from San Diego for Midway Airport were taken into custody when they landed in Amarillo Texas instead.
A handful of others thought to have contributed to the fracas were prohibited from re-boarding at the captain’s request.
The cause of the midair brawl on Flight 1522 while en route to the Windy City, and the brawlers’ refusal to obey crew commands, is under investigation, but officials said there were no weapons involved.
"We're taking statements from everybody," a police spokesman told reporters this morning, adding those detained were “definitely out of line, very vocal, very obnoxious acting. Was it a disruption of the flight? That's going to be up to the FBI to determine.”
All the rowdy participants were somehow acquainted with each other, he also pointed out, and no one appeared to have been injured.
The unnamed suspects are in their 20s and 30s and were traveling within a larger group. The FBI has ordered they remain jailed while agents continue to probe the incident.
