American Airlines flight carrying congressmen makes emergency landing, and the reason is wild

Four members of Congress were on their way to Washington, D.C. Wednesday night when their plane had to make an unexpected stop in Kansas City. The reason? A passenger on board was causing so much trouble that the pilot decided to land the plane early.

According to TMZ, Greg Stanton, Eli Crane, Andy Biggs, and Paul Gosar were all on the American Airlines flight that left from Phoenix. The flight had been going smoothly for over two and a half hours before everything changed. Flight tracking information showed the plane was well into its journey when it had to change course and head to Kansas City International Airport instead.

Nobody knows exactly what the woman did to cause such a big problem, but it was bad enough that the crew felt they had no choice but to land. When police came on board to walk her off the plane, she shouted at everyone, “Sorry folks, you live in a fascist state.” Another person on the flight recorded the moment on video.

This wasn’t your typical flight disruption

All four of the congressmen who were on the plane represent different parts of Arizona. Stanton is a Democrat, while Crane, Biggs, and Gosar are all Republicans. It seems like they just happened to be on the same flight and had nothing to do with what went wrong.

After the plane stopped at the gate in Kansas City, an officer from the local police department got on and took the woman off. American Airlines later told TMZ that once she was removed, the plane took off again and made it safely to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in D.C.

The airline did not say much about what the woman actually did on the flight. All they confirmed was that her behavior was disruptive enough to force the plane to land hundreds of miles away from where it was supposed to go. Based on what she yelled on her way out, it sounds like her outburst might have been about politics.

So far, none of the four congressmen have said anything publicly about what happened. Nobody knows yet if the woman will face any criminal charges or if American Airlines will ban her from flying with them again.

Problems with badly behaved passengers seem to be happening more and more these days. When someone acts up on a plane, airlines take it very seriously. Passengers have been kicked off flights for all sorts of reasons, from not following safety rules to causing scenes.

The punishments can be harsh too, including lifetime bans from airlines and even jail time in some cases. Flight crews deal with challenging situations on a regular basis, which is why they have zero tolerance for anyone who puts safety at risk.