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United Airlines Flight Makes U-Turn After Passenger Yells 'Jihad,' Rushes Towards Cockpit



A United Airlines flight headed for Denver was forced to return to a D.C. airport Monday night to eject an unruly passenger who allegedly screamed "jihad" as he ran towards the cockpit, government officials told CNN.

Flight 1074 was less than an hour into its flight after taking off at 10:15 p.m. from Dulles International Airport when a disturbance occurred from a passenger who "failed to comply with crew instructions," United Airlines spokesman Luke Punzenberger told the station.

Air traffic controllers received reports from the Boeing 737's pilot about a man behaving violently.

"He ran forward towards the cockpit, and he is being restrained by passengers," a pilot said before announcing they would be returning to the airport so police can intervene, according to LiveATC.net.

The flight, with 33 passengers and a crew of six, returned to Dulles at around 10:40 p.m. and the man was taken into custody.

"A passenger was removed from the plane and transported to a local hospital for evaluation," Kimberly Gibbs, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, told CNN.

It's not clear what motivated the man to allegedly cause the disturbance and there were no immediate indications he has ties to terrorism. A cellphone video purportedly shows a man in his 20s being held down by passengers as they utter reassurances to calm him.

"You're OK," a passenger says. "We're going to get you off this plane, buddy."

None of the plane's passengers or crew was injured during the incident. Flight 1074 continued onto Denver on Tuesday.

Lord Jim wrote:
"He ran forward towards the cockpit, and he is being restrained by passengers," a pilot said before announcing they would be returning to the airport so police can intervene, according to LiveATC.net.

Joe Guy wrote:That video would have been much more interesting if the passengers had beheaded him...