A pilot on United flight 622 declared an emergency after a passenger began praying in the aisle of an airplane heading from Denver to Dulles Washington International Airport Thursday night.
The flight landed 13 minutes earlier than its scheduled 9:10 pm arrival after the pilot made the announcement.
The Boeing 757 was escorted by military jets after the call was made shortly before 9:00. All of the passengers were allowed to get off the plane except for the man who began praying.
United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said the man wasn’t following flight attendant instructions for landing. He began yelling and praying in the aisle as an attendant tried to get him to go back to his seat.
Passenger Christopher Haag said , “He got back up, then he was mumbling, then kneeled down in the aisle and he started to pray, and about that time a bunch of other passengers went back and they subdued him.”
A female passenger who asked to remain anonymous said a flight attendant “basically held him down in the aisle while we landed. It was an emergency landing. It was straight, very fast taxi to the gate.”
She went on to say, “There was a bunch of emergency vehicles at the gate when we got there. As soon as we got the door open, a lot of cops came on board.”
EMS and police escorted the man off the plane, and he was placed in the back of a police cruiser. He was taken to a local hospital for mental evaluation.
