Fliers describe chaotic scene that caused American flight to divert

Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY; Michael Anthony Adams and Justin L. Mack, The Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Screaming woman removed from American Airlines flight A female passenger was escorted off an American Airlines flight after becoming unruly. The flight was headed to Chicago from Miami, but diverted to Indianapolis.

Police on Tuesday identified the woman arrested for a violent outburst that forced a Chicago-bound American Airlines flight to divert to Indianapolis a day earlier.

Daniela Velez-Reyes, 25, Chicago, remained in custody at the Marion County Jail Tuesday afternoon, according to the Indianapolis Star. An Indianapolis Airport Police report said Velez-Reyes was arrested on suspicion of battery, disorderly conduct, criminal recklessness and resisting law enforcement.

Authorities allege Velez-Reyes was at the center of a disturbance on American Airlines Flight 1284 from Miami to Chicago O'Hare. Police said the woman became unruly during the flight, alleging that she struck both a flight attendant and passenger on the flight. The pilot opted to divert to Indianapolis.

American confirmed an incident to Today in the Sky, saying in a statement:

"American Airlines Flight 1284, a Boeing 737 flying from Miami to Chicago, diverted yesterday to Indianapolis International Airport due to an unruly passenger on board. The passenger was removed from the aircraft and the flight re-departed shortly after to Chicago. "

Passengers on the flight described a chaotic scene.

Jim Saviano, a West Coast-based disc jockey who also goes by the name Savi, said he first heard a commotion from near where the woman was sitting. "You could hear someone screaming expletives in the back repeatedly," he said to ABC 7 of Chicago.

"Then she started kicking the seat of the passenger in front of her, and he apparently turned around to complain," Marian Frendt, another Flight 1284 passenger added to ABC 7. "And she hit him."

Saviano said that's when a flight attendant intervened.

"She was trying to talk the girl down," Saviano told ABC 7. "She seemed really calm. She was talking about her boyfriend. And then, all of a sudden, she grabbed [the flight attendant] by the face, kissed her and then punched her in the face."

It was shortly after that the pilot decided to divert, according to passenger accounts.

The pilot "announced a cabin lockdown and (that he) needed everyone in their seats immediately and needed large male volunteers to restrain a passenger," Saviano told USA TODAY via e-mail and Twitter.

A few minutes later, Saviano said the plane "started descending faster than normal and then the captain announced we would be making a landing in Indianapolis."

The Star reported that the two victims in the incident were a 36-year-old woman and a 52-year-old man, according to a police report from port from Indianapolis Airport Police. The woman suffered a minor injury, and the man suffered no injuries.