A video shows a crew member explaining to passengers the reason for the unscheduled stop.
A San Francisco-bound JetBlue flight from New York had to be diverted for an unscheduled landing in Minneapolis on Monday after an unruly passenger was allegedly caught snorting some white substance, refusing to wear a mask and sexually harassing another passenger on board. The passenger was removed off the flight and arrested. A video, recorded on a cellphone by a passenger on the flight, shared by ViralHog, shows a crew member explaining the reason for the diversion and delay. The flight attendant said that the passenger in question allegedly touched another passenger and would repeatedly visit the bathrooms.
The crew member also said that he was seen making stabbing gestures towards fellow passengers, adding a bag with the substance was found near his seat.
Forty-two-year-old Mark Anthony Scerbo, a resident of Mechanicville, New York, has been booked on suspicion of drug possession, Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport police said, according to a report in NBC.
The passengers reacted in shock once they were informed that Scerbo was seen snorting a white substance.
"It was decided that all four flight attendants felt uncomfortable with what was going on," the crew member said. "There was a child there. Other passengers were uncomfortable. This was the closest place to go, so we as a team made the decision to come here."
Once he finished explaining, the passengers applauded him and his team members for taking the call to make an unscheduled landing at Minneapolis and sort the matter.
Another report that quoted eyewitnesses said the passenger had a bag full of a white substance, something the crew member also explained. They added that he touched at least one woman, made inappropriate remarks to fellow female passengers and also hurled racist slurs.
Bob McKanzie, one of the passengers on board the flight, told ABC7 that once the man in question reached his seat, he started yelling that he wanted a white Porche. "I don't know who he was talking to but that's what he was saying," McKanzie said.
Another person, seated near the bathroom, said that Scerbo kept walking to and from the bathroom. The passenger added that Scerbo wasn't wearing shoes and he smelled awful.
