A flight from Virgina to Los Angeles was forced to land in Colorado on Wednesday due to an unruly passenger.
Breeze Airways Flight MX704 from Norfolk, Virginia, was forced to land in Grand Junction, Colorado, after a passenger who flight crew members said was drunk waved a skateboard and resisted attempts by the crew to restrain him, according to KNBC-TV.
The passenger was identified as David Leroy Carter, 46, of Los Angeles, according to the FBI. Grand Junction police detained Carter after the plane landed.
A passenger who did not give a name said Carter’s in-flight rant was “just F-bombs and N-bombs.”
A video posted to X showed a passenger stepping in to assist the plane’s crew after flight attendants had trouble controlling Carter.
A passenger aboard a Breeze Airways flight helped a flight attendant restrain an unruly passenger mid-flight on Wednesday. The flight, which was headed to Los Angeles, had to divert to Grand Junction, Colorado after a report that an “intoxicated male passenger became agitated,… pic.twitter.com/NseO1lGgJh
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) August 14, 2025
“He literally picked this man up underneath his armpits and put him down like it was in a car seat,” passenger P.K. Mackey said. “It was amazing.”
“Instinct just took over,” the passenger, who gave his name as Ray, said. “I didn’t know it was going to get all like this. It was just instinct.”
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“My son was on there and there were other kids on there, and so I just had to sit him down,” Ray said, according to KABC-TV.
“Once I heard the flight attendants say, ‘Can somebody help me?’ I was just like, I saw black almost, and I just grabbed him and sat him down,” he said.
“He just got up and sat him down in the seat like a little kid,” passenger Jeff Hankerson added.
Breeze Airways issued a statement about the incident describing how the passenger was detained upon arrival in Grand Junction.
“The plane was met promptly by local law enforcement officers, who restrained and removed the passenger from the aircraft,” the company said.
“One Flight Attendant and one Guest were evaluated for minor injuries. Our focus now is on taking care of our Crew and remaining Guests who have been unfairly inconvenienced by this unfortunate event and getting them safely to their final destination as quickly as possible.”
Grand Junction police said they responded to a report of an “intoxicated male passenger became agitated, yelling racist slurs at airline staff while waving a skateboard,” according to KABC.
An air traffic control recording said, “They’re calling it a level four disturbance now. They say they had him restrained. He broke out, and there’s passengers holding him down now.”
“That was crazy,” passenger Angel Hankerson said when she landed in Los Angeles. “I didn’t expect that to happen. You never really think that would happen to you until it happens.”
Although passengers eventually reached Los Angeles, Mackey was not happy about the delays.
“Why am I here after 7:45 p.m.? I’m going to tell you why. This Tony Hawk wannabe from Outer Banks, North Carolina, with a skateboard had too many Bloody Marys this morning,” Mackey said.
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