Passenger Restrained Mid-Flight Forces United Airlines Flight To Divert

A United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Chicago was forced to make an unscheduled landing in Denver in the early hours of Monday, February 10, after a passenger became disruptive and aggressive toward crew members.

The incident unfolded on United Airlines flight 1484, a red-eye service from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), and was described as “scary” by a witness on board.

A passenger’s firsthand account was shared on Reddit’s r/unitedairlines subreddit. The disturbance began when a man repeatedly walked up the aisle toward the front of the plane, engaging in heated confrontations with the crew.

At one point, the situation escalated when the passenger began yelling loudly and incoherently.

“It was nonsensical. Seemed like some sort of mental episode. At some point it escalated into a big physical altercation and several passengers had to rush out of their seats to help the crew pin down this person and get him restrained,” poster Metroidude47 said on Reddit.

Newsweek reached out to u/Metroidude47 via Reddit for comment.

United Airlines confirmed the incident and told Newsweek: “United flight 1484 from San Francisco to Chicago landed in Denver early Monday morning after one customer became disruptive and aggressive with a flight attendant. Law enforcement met the aircraft at the gate in Denver and the passenger was removed. The flight has since arrived in Chicago.”

The Reddit user expressed relief and praise for the swift response of the crew and fellow passengers, and the post quickly gained attention with thousands of upvotes and over 200 comments.

One commenter, who said they were a member of the flight crew, wrote: “Glad everyone is ok. I was one of the flight attendants who assisted the crew.”

Others praised the actions of the people on the plane. “Glad everyone was OK, and the guy wasn’t violent with other pax or crew. Nice that the passengers helped to restrain the guy! Teamwork!” posted one Reddit user.

“Wow. Scary. Nice work people,” read another comment. Another Reddit user compared the altercation to another common flight disruption and said: “But let’s keep complaining about crying babies.”

The Federal Aviation Administration has reported that the rate of unruly passenger incidents has decreased by over 80 percent since early 2021. In 2024, airlines reported more than 1,240 unruly passenger cases, and the FAA has now referred more than 310 of the most serious cases to the FBI since late 2021.