AUSTIN, Jul 12 – A Southwest Airlines flight out of Austin was diverted back to the airport shortly after take-off after a fight broke out between two passengers on board. Southwest Flight 3590 took off from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport at 3.40pm on its way to Chicago. But about an hour later, the flight was turned around after what Southwest described as an “altercation” between two passengers.
Local law enforcement met the aircraft at the gate. The flight has since departed for a second time to Chicago and was three and a half hours behind schedule, Southwest said. According to Lisa Birkman, a passenger on the plane and former Williamson County Commissioner, about 20 to 30 minutes into the flight one passenger was told to move seats.
“Then the pilot came on the intercom and said that we were turning around. Two young men were taken off the plane when we landed. My husband said another passenger told him that one guy reached over his seat and punched another passenger,” Birkman said.
