An airliner carrying 206 people from New York to Tel Aviv, which was diverted from its destination and landed in Boston on Erev Shabbos after a rowdy passenger attempted to force his way into the cockpit, landed in Israel tonight, Motzoei Shabbos.
According to sources, the passenger who tried to enter the cockpit is an Israeli man in his twenties, who apparently had a panic attack.
He was arrested by police in Boston and is being interrogated.
The Delta plane landed in the Logan International Airport on Erev Shabbos after other passengers managed to subdue him, Boston media reported.
Phil Orlandella, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, said the 22-year-old Israeli man ran toward the cockpit and pounded on the door. He said passengers and crew helped to subdue the man. Anthony Black, a spokesman for Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc., says Flight 86 had 206 passengers and 11 crew members aboard and was two hours into the flight when the incident occurred.
Airport staff said the incident was not terrorism related.
Two weeks ago IAF jets were scrambled to a Delta aircraft making its way to Israel after it lost contact with the control tower at Ben Gurion Airport.
The airport declared an emergency situation when an American Delta Airlines plane from New York carrying 105 passengers was feared to have been hijacked after the pilot failed to make contact with ground staff. Air Force pilots approached the plane and received information that a technical malfunction had prevented the pilot from speaking to the control tower.
{Matzav.com News Staff}
