4 passengers detained at Detroit airport

Jan. 14, 2010
Passengers were reported to be unruly onboard a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit

DETROIT --

Four passengers who were reported to be unruly on board a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit were detained and released Tuesday afternoon after their plane landed.

The Transportation Security Administration said the passengers were released and no arrests were made.

Crew and flight members requested that authorities meet Northwest Flight 245 at the gate when it landed at about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

“Four passengers on flight 243 did not comply with crew member instructions and out of an abundance of caution the crew requested authorities meet the flight upon arrival,” said Northwest/Delta Airlines spokeswoman Susan Elliott.

Passenger Lia McCoskey said she became alarmed when she saw air marshals board the plane at the gate in Detroit and question the men.

"There was a passenger behind me. …He was interrogated by two air marshals. And by the tone of their voice, it sounded pretty serious. I am happy to be off the plane," said McCoskey.

None of the 245 passengers and 12 flight attendants on board Airbus 330 was injured.

Detroit Metro Airport spokesman Mike Conway told Local 4 that he doesn't believe the passengers were a threat.

The four passengers were not sitting together and Elliot won't specify what the passengers did to alert the crew.

One passenger told Local 4 that one man put a blanket over his head when the plane took off in Amsterdam and that when the flight attendant asked him to remove it, he complied.

Another passenger said she overheard one man joking about how Americans were afraid of him.

Tuesday's incident occurred two weeks after a young Nigerian man is accused of trying to blow up a packed U.S. jetliner, Northwest flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit, on Christmas Day.

One passenger said that he got very nervous when he saw there was commotion on the plane. "I hope this plane doesn’t blow up and I hope that I get to see my son and wife again. That thought crossed my mind," said a passenger on board the flight.

TSA: Unruly Passengers Questioned In Detroit

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