A Spirit Airlines flight suffered a delay of roughly fourteen hours after being forced to make an emergency landing in Houston on Sunday. The cause? An unruly 81-year-old blind man.
The Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale flight was diverted by its captain after the man became disruptive; according to Local 10 news in south Florida, the pensioner was “kicking and screaming.”
To ensure the safety of fellow passengers, the plane landed in Houston, before Spirit sent another plane to fly the waiting passengers to their final destination.
In total, passengers were made to twiddle their thumbs on the tarmac at Houston for one hour, before waiting another 10 hours in Bush Intercontinental Airport’s terminal. The flight, which should have lasted around seven hours, ended up taking 21. One passenger told KHOU Houston they were only able to receive information from the departure board, which continually posted extensions to their harrowing delay.
As for the man himself, he was taken into custody, but the pilot and Spirit both declined to press charges. A Spirit spokeswoman later told Local 10:
“We understand that this was an inconvenience for our customers, but the safety of our customers is always top priority. All customers are being given full refunds for this inconvenience.”
