Video Shows Drunk Passenger Who Forced Montana-Bound Flight to Land in Texas So He Could Be Arrested

Midair footage taken by a fellow flyer shows a drunk and unruly airline passenger who cause such a commotion that the flight he was on was forced to land so he could be arrested by authorities.

A criminal complaint stated that Keith Edward Fagiana, who was traveling on American Airlines from Dallas to Bozeman Tuesday, cursed at a flight attendant and punched him four times before others interfered and stopped him, according to local news station WPDE. 

The flight attendant told the FBI that one of the passengers complained about Fagiana “violently kicking their seat.” 

The flight attendant then told Fagiana to stop kicking the seat, but Fagiana yelled obscenities back at him.

A video shared by passengers with local Montana station KBZK, shows the flight attendant saying to Fagiana "stop" several times before telling him, "what the f*** do you think you're doing?"

Fagiana had reportedly punched the flight attendant in the stomach and then stood up to punch him a few more times until other passengers intervened and he was constrained placed in flex handcuffs. 

The pilot had to land in Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport for law enforcement to remove Fagiana, who was deemed a level two threat aboard the plane. He was then arrested by the FBI. 

Airport police arrested Fagiana and removed him from the plane. 

Fagiana admitted that he drank Captain Morgan rum at different bars before boarding his flight.

The criminal complaint also alleged that Fagiana complained that the flex handcuffs were hurting his wrists. When police agreed to replace them with steel handcuffs, Fagiana kicked a member of the airport police in the groin and spit on other officers.

He claimed that he fought with law enforcement because he didn’t want to be arrested.

The latest data by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) showed that there were 2,031 reports of unruly passengers in 2023 as of  Friday, which is 17% less than the number of cases reported in 2022. Meanwhile, 2021 saw the highest number of unruly passengers with 5,973 cases reported that year.