“Threatening”: American Airlines Flight Turns Back To Miami After Man Allegedly Rushes Crew

A graduate in German, Jake has a passion for history and regional aviation, and enjoys sampling new carriers and aircraft. He has visited OEM facilities as far and wide as Bristol, Toulouse, and Seattle, and recently enjoyed the milestone of flying his 150th sector as a passenger. Based in Norfolk, UK.

On Thursday night, passengers flying on the evening American Airlines service from Miami International Airport (MIA) to Cheddi Jagan International Airport (GEO) in Georgetown, Guyana, were delayed after their flight had to return to its Florida origin. The reason for the diversion was disruptive passenger behavior, with one of the people on board having allegedly threatened and rushed at the crew.

As the incident occurred during the flight's climb out of Miami, the aircraft, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 that bore the registration N338ST, was able to get back on the ground relatively quickly. Even so, by the time the flight took off again with a new jet operating the service, it was several hours late, and it only reached Guyana in the early hours of Friday. American has had several such incidents recently.

Back To Miami

American Airlines flight AA339 is a daily scheduled international flight from Miami to Georgetown. According to Flightradar24, it is scheduled to leave Miami at 6:09 PM, with its arrival in Guyana timed for 10:41 PM, some four hours and 32 minutes later. Thursday's iteration took off around half an hour late, at 6:40 PM local time, but, as reported by CBS, disruptive passenger behavior forced it to divert.

According to CBS, a man flying on the service threatened the cabin crew while the Boeing 737 MAX 8 was climbing out of Miami. One of the pilots confirmed to air traffic control that "while we were climbing out, he rushed the flight attendants in the back of the aircraft," with the jet turning around shortly after. After reaching a maximum altitude of 22,000 feet, the aircraft eventually landed back in Miami at 7:18 PM.

Simple Flying has reached out to American Airlines for further information on this matter. We will update our coverage upon receiving a statement from the carrier.

A New Aircraft Operated The Flight With A Heavy Delay

Concerning the passenger's threatening behavior, a member of the flight's crew later reported that "the exact words were, 'I will take care of you when we land in Guyana,' but in a very threatening manner." The altercation ultimately did not escalate into a physical assault, and the man was reportedly allowed to disembark the flight without incident upon arrival in Miami. He was later rebooked onto a new flight.

As for the remaining passenger of American Airlines flight AA339, they were still able to fly to Guyana on Thursday night, albeit with a heavy delay. They also did so on a new aircraft, namely another Boeing 737 MAX 8 that bore the registration N343SY. As detailed in the table below, the replacement jet took off almost five hours late, at 11:00 PM local time. However, it was able to make up some of the delay.

When all was said and done, the flight was a little over four hours late by the time that it touched down in Georgetown at 2:52 AM local time on Sunday. In terms of the aircraft that were involved in the incident, the original 737, N338ST, is now set to depart Miami as AA491 for Washington at 6:27 AM on Friday. N343SY, meanwhile, will leave Georgetown at 7:00 AM local time as American Airlines flight AA1512.

American Airlines Has Experienced Several Disruptive Passenger Incidents Of Late

As it happens, this is far from the first time in recent weeks and months that an American Airlines flight has been disrupted by the behavior of one of its passengers. Just last week, one of the carrier's Airbus A319s was met by police upon its arrival at Kansas City International Airport (MCI) after a passenger was allegedly groped by their seatmate. The flight in question had originated at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.

September was an equally dramatic month, with two more high-profile passenger behavior incidents hitting the carrier. As detailed in the video above, one of these saw a passenger arrested in Miami after stripping naked and acting indecently inflight. Elsewhere, a man flying on an American Airlines service from DFW to Newark had to be duct-taped to his seat after biting a passenger during a racist tirade.