Several passengers on the flight, including military veterans and a former law enforcement officer, helped crew members subdue the man after landing, according to witnesses. The flight was en route to Tampa from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport when it diverted to Atlanta “after a passenger on the aircraft observed that he was in possession of a box cutter,” Frontier said in a statement. Bystander footage shows police escorting a passenger off a Frontier Airlines flight after it made an emergency landing at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Nov. 11, 2022. Retrieved from ABC News The TSA said in a statement Saturday that the plane diverted around 9:30 p.m. “following a disturbance involving a passenger who was in possession of a box cutter.” According to the TSA, after a search, a second box cutter was also found in the unknown passenger’s carry-on bag. Atlanta police assisted federal partners in apprehending the suspect, Atlanta Police Department spokesman John Predmore said. Predmore referred further questions to the FBI, which is leading the investigation. The FBI declined to comment and instead referred ABC News to the TSA’s statement. No injuries to passengers or crew have been reported, the airline said. The Federal Aviation Administration, which is also investigating, said the plane landed safely “after the crew declared an emergency due to an unruly passenger.” Before the emergency landing, several passengers noticed the man acting erratically, witnesses said. Passenger Ben Mutz told ABC News that he spoke to the person in the window seat next to the man after they left the plane. The passenger told Mutz that the man “snapped a box knife at me and said, ‘I want to kill or I want to stab people,’” Mutz said. Larry Cumberbatch was sitting in the third row, flying from Cincinnati to Tampa to visit his son for his birthday. She told ABC News that a woman who was initially sitting in an aisle seat next to the man reported seeing “some kind of knife” and feared for her safety. Flight attendants asked if someone had a military or police background and would change seats or go to the back of the plane, he said. Cumberbatch, a Navy veteran, offered to switch seats with the woman, she said. At the back of the plane, Cumberbatch found the man leaning on the window seat passenger with his feet on the aisle seat, before getting up to go to the toilet. When the man came out of the bathroom, he confronted Cumberbatch in the hallway, in what Cumberbatch described as a “confrontation.” “The people back there, you could literally see they were scared. That’s why I stood there, to give them a calm presence and let this guy know that someone is watching, someone that you’re going to have to deal with if you’re going to take it to the next level.” , Cumberbatch said. Cumberbatch said a former member of law enforcement spoke to the man during the landing to calm him down. Bystander footage shows police escorting a passenger off a Frontier Airlines flight after it made an emergency landing at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Nov. 11, 2022. Retrieved from ABC News Once the plane landed, passengers were asked to leave without taking any of their belongings, according to Mutz. He said he and others didn’t know they had made an emergency landing until they turned on their phones and realized they were in Atlanta. Cumberbatch and an army veteran remained on the plane while the former officer helped escort the man down the runway, he said. When officers arrived, the man became “agitated” and the former officer warned him before confronting him, Cumberbatch said. “In my mind, he was really the hero at that moment,” Cumberbatch said. The man was then taken into police custody, according to Cumberbatch, who said he spoke with FBI agents after the incident. Cumberbatch said he was “not surprised” that veterans responded at this time. “We’re going to take control of whatever situation we’re in,” he said. Passengers on the flight were provided hotel accommodations and rebooked on a new flight to Tampa on Saturday morning. Box cutters are prohibited in the cabin, but are allowed in checked baggage. The TSA said it is conducting an internal review of the incident and will review surveillance footage and “airport security checkpoint processes/operations.”
