FBI: Rowdy woman forces NY-to-Chicago plane to land in Detroit

DETROIT (FOX 32 / AP) — The FBI says a rowdy passenger on a flight from New York to Chicago was restrained with a belt, necktie and apron after demanding to get off the plane.

United Airlines Flight 3461, operated by Shuttle America, was diverted to Detroit Metropolitan Airport and landed about 8 p.m. Thursday. Twenty-two-year-old Breanna Farquharson of Mount Vernon, New York, was charged with assaulting a crew member.

Her court hearing was postponed Friday. A woman who answered the phone at a home where Farquharson is listed as living declined to comment.

In a court filing, the FBI says Farquharson scratched a flight attendant's lip and pulled a necklace and employee badge off her after "frantically" requesting to get off the plane, 30 minutes into the flight.

"I noticed her during pre-boarding...she was sort of wandering around...there was certainly something off with her," said passenger Bob Fitzsimmons. "She had a blood-curdling scream, which was very unsettling."

The plane with 69 passengers and four crew members arrived in Chicago about an hour late.