Sean Goldman, the 9-year-old at the center of an international abduction and custody dispute, boarded a chartered plane in Rio de Janeiro with his American father Thursday morning and flew to the United States, ending a five-year battle in the court systems of Brazil and the United States that threatened to upset diplomatic relations between the countries.

Sean and his father, David Goldman of Tinton Falls, N.J., touched down on American soil Thursday afternoon, said Mr. Goldman’s American lawyer, Patricia E. Apy. She would not reveal where they landed or where they planned to spend the weekend, citing the family’s request for privacy, but The Associated Press reported that the plane had landed in Florida.

The father and son were reunited amid a media scrum at the gate of the United States Consulate in Rio de Janeiro. Sean’s Brazilian relatives, who had fought against returning him to Mr. Goldman, had refused various offers by the consulate to provide a calmer, more private way of transferring him inside the consular compound, Ms. Apy said.

Instead, Sean’s Brazilian family chose to deliver him to the door of the compound on foot. About 8:30 a.m. (5:30 a.m. Eastern time), the boy, flanked by his Brazilian stepfather, grandmother and a family lawyer, waded through a throng of reporters, cameramen and bystanders outside the consulate. The boy clutched at his stepfather, João Paulo Lins e Silva.