A SkyWest flight bound for Detroit was forced into an emergency landing Thursday evening when an unruly passenger attempted to open the door in midair, police said.
According to the FAA, SkyWest flight 3612 landed in Cedar Rapids “after the crew reported a passenger disturbance.” Upon landing, authorities took 23-year-old chef Mario Nikprelaj into custody. There were 67 passengers on board.
The flight originated in Omaha at 5:30 p.m. local time. It made its landing at Eastern Iowa Airport around an hour later.
During the journey, the pilot told an air traffic controller that the suspect was “in a fight with a flight attendant right now, trying to open the emergency exit.”
The suspect is facing charges of disorderly conduct, assault, possession of prescription medication, a tax stamp violation, and harassment in the first degree, the Cedar Rapids Police Department stated in a press release. The department is also considering bringing further charges against Nikprelaj, a resident of Omaha.
A video posted on social media appeared to show Nikprelaj being escorted off the plane by multiple police officers. “Got diverted to Cedar Rapids because this guy decided to try and open the exit row door then fight the flight crew and other passengers,” passenger J. Spencer wrote in a post on X.
He later accused Nikprelaj of being disruptive from the moment the passengers boarded the flight.
The suspect was seated in the emergency exit row. Spencer said that Nikprelaj “ignored the flight attendant’s repeated instructions and got verbally aggressive.”
“Then, as we were turning onto the runway, he stood up and unbuckled his seatbelt. The crew had to intervene again,” Spencer added.
Spencer described the crew on board as being “amazing under pressure” as Nikprelaj repeatedly used the call button and began yelling. It was at this point that the captain declared an emergency and made a beeline for Cedar Rapids.
This is not the offender’s first brush with the law.
In February 2020, Nikprelaj, then 18, was accused of assaulting his girlfriend in the Detroit area and then stealing a running snow plow, while shirtless and shoeless. He was arrested quickly as the plow was equipped with GPS tracking, reported Click on Detroit.
Following Thursday’s disturbance, the flight proceeded to Detroit without incident later that day.
“SkyWest has zero tolerance for unruly behavior as safety for our customers and crew is our top priority,” the airline said in a statement.
So far this year, there have been close to 900 reports of unruly passengers on board flights, reports CBS News.
