American Airlines flight diverted to Tulsa due to unruly passenger

TULSA, Okla. (KFOR) — An American Airlines flight from Milwaukee to Dallas made an emergency landing on Tuesday evening after a passenger becoming upset when a flight attendant told him to stop vaping.

American Airlines flight 1733 carrying over 100 passengers departed from Milwaukee just before 5:30 p.m. Tuesday on its way to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

The flight was diverted to Tulsa just over an hour into the flight after a first-class passenger was openly vaping in their seat. A flight attendant had told the passenger to stop vaping and warned him that vaping on a flight is a violation to AA rules and also a federal law.

According to Live and Let's Fly, the warning from the flight attendant "antagonized" the passenger and claimed the attendant was making false accusations before he chased her into the forward galley. Passengers reportedly stepped in to protect the flight attendant from the unruly passenger.

Following the disturbance, the pilot decided to make an emergency landing into Tulsa at 7:12 p.m. where Tulsa police met the passenger at the gate upon arrival.

According to a TIA spokesperson, the passenger smelled of alcohol and was taken to the Tulsa Jail.

Following the diversion, the flight was able to depart from the Tulsa airport at 8:22 p.m. and made its arrival to DFW at 9:20 p.m. central time.

News 4 received this statement from airport officials regarding flight 1733:

American Airlines flight 1733, with service from Milwaukee, Wisconsin (MKE) to Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), diverted to Tulsa, Oklahoma (TUL) due to a disruptive customer. We thank our team for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.

Tulsa International Airport