An unruly passenger forced a Zurich-bound flight to return to New Jersey’s Newark Airport shortly after they roamed freely through the cabin, became abusive toward the crew, and tried to enter the cockpit, officials said.
Swiss International Air Lines Flight 19 took off from Newark Liberty International Airport at 9:50 p.m. Sunday but the pilot soon reported that one of the 233 passengers was causing a ruckus, NJ.com reported.
The pilot of the Airbus A330 declared: “PAN-PAN, PAN-PAN, PAN-PAN,” an aviation acronym for “possible assistance needed.”
He told the air traffic controller that the passenger was “getting worse” and “tried to enter the cockpit,” according to a recording of the call obtained from LiveATC.net.
“We couldn’t restrain the passenger. He is freely moving through the cabin,” he said.
