A United Airlines flight faced a serious incident when a disruptive passenger allegedly attempted to open an aircraft door mid-flight and subsequently assaulted another passenger. The incident occurred at an altitude of 36,000 feet, shortly after the plane had departed from Newark Liberty International Airport.
Flight 1551, en route to Guatemala City, was compelled to make an emergency landing at Washington Dulles International Airport on Thursday night, as confirmed by data from FlightAware.
The aircraft, a Boeing 737 Max 8, had taken off from Newark at 6:46 p.m. with 145 passengers and six crew members on board. Originally scheduled for a five-hour journey, the plane instead touched down at Dulles in less than two hours due to the unforeseen circumstances.
As the plane made its descent to Dulles, the pilot communicated the situation to air traffic control, details of which have surfaced on social media via ATC.com audio recordings.
In the audio, an air traffic controller can be heard inquiring, “United 1551, they’re asking me what door did the passenger try to open?” The response from the aircraft clarified, “Door, 2L, at 36,000 feet and then [the traveler] assaulted a fellow passenger.”
“Door, 2L, at 36,000 feet and then [the traveler] assaulted a fellow passenger.”
The controller then asked if there were any injuries on board, to which the pilot replied, “Not to our knowledge.”
A United spokesperson told The Post that the plane landed safely at Dulles and was “met by law enforcement to address an unruly passenger.”
“The flight was canceled, with a replacement flight added for Friday morning, and customers were provided overnight accommodations,” they said.
The unruly act is just the latest incident to affect United Airlines. Earlier this month, a crazed passenger on a flight from the Dominican Republic allegedly attacked a flight attendant and tried to storm the cockpit as it landed at Newark.
Passengers who assault crew members can be slapped with fines up to $43,658, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA has received 608 unruly passenger reports so far this year, compared to 1,621 last year and 2,096 in 2024.
A whopping 5,973 reports were filed in 2021 as air travel restarted following the initial phase of the COVID pandemic – the largest number over the last 10 years.
The Post has reached out to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority for comment.
