INDIANAPOLIS — The Federal Aviation Administration has begun an investigation into a passenger who was detained Tuesday after a disturbance forced a United Airlines flight to turn around at Indianapolis International Airport.
Indianapolis Airport Authority officials confirmed the incident happened on Flight 3989, an Embraer E175LL plane operated by MESA on behalf of United, which was headed to Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
A MESA spokesperson told WRTV a passenger stood up shortly after takeoff and "tried to move up the aisle" but was stopped by another passenger.
Audio from ATC.com shares the interaction between the air traffic controller and the pilots.
WATCH BELOW TO HEAR AUDIO OF THE CALL:
The FAA on Tuesday night also shared a transcript of the interaction.
Air traffic controller: "Air Shuttle 3989 when you can, can you let me know what’s going on please?"
Pilot: "Yeah we have a belligerent passenger trying to open the cabin door, we have passengers trying to get him secured in a seat right now."
Pilot: "Affirmative and we’d like to return, we’re ready for the approach, we’re gonna need law enforcement to meet us at the gate and if you could possibly contact our operations for us and let ‘em know we’re returning to the gate." Airport police responded and detained the passenger involved. Indianapolis Airport Authority officials said there was no impact on airport operations.
Online flight tracker FlightAware shows the aircraft left Indianapolis at 11:46 a.m. EDT and returned at 12:12 p.m. EDT.
The flight departed again at 1:22 p.m. EDT and arrived about two hours later.
The FAA says airlines have reported more than 830 unruly passenger incidents so far in 2026.
"The FAA investigates all passenger-disturbance incidents that airlines report. The FAA pursues legal enforcement action against any passenger who assaults, threatens, intimidates, or interferes with airline crewmembers, and can propose civil penalties up to $43,658 per violation. One incident can result in multiple violations. Passengers who engage in unruly behavior can also face criminal charges."
WRTV's Gregg Montgomery contributed to this report.
