Houston, Texas Man That Forced Southwest Flight To Divert Facing 20 Years

A plane that was returning to Houston, Texas from Las Vegas, Nevada was forced by a passenger to make an emergency landing in Dallas. What normally would have been a quick 3 hour flight for passengers ended up being an all day traumatic experience.

Why was the plane forced to land at the wrong airport?

According to witnesses, a passenger from Houston became incredibly aggressive and belligerent towards other passengers, and particularly staff of Southwest Airlines. The unruliness continued for a couple hours, and eventually escalated when the passenger, now identified as Marcus Huff, 45, of Houston, assaulted a flight attendant while refusing to remain seated during the flight.

The amount of out of control passengers has skyrocketed post Covid-19.

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It has gotten so bad in the air, that Congress is considering the grounding of passengers permanently. Much like being banned from a bar, when an airline puts you on the do not serve list, you just seek out a new airline (bar) to become a patron. This proposed legislation would put an end to that loop hole.

What happened to the Houston man that forced the emergency landing?

According to this article with KCEN, the man has now been formally indicted and arrested on charges that could result in 20 years in federal prison if convicted. Civil charges could be the next to be filed.

There is a good chance at least some of the passengers that were forced to land in Dallas could file suit against Huff. Also, it would not be difficult to imagine Southwest attempting to recoup their losses from compensating the inconvenience passengers.