A naked passenger forced an Alaska Airlines flight to turn around and land at its starting point in Anchorage on Wednesday morning, delaying passengers headed to Seattle, KTVA reported.
The flight took off at 1:25 a.m. from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, according to the airline's flight status page, before the pilot turned the aircraft around near Prince William Sound because of the distraction, the television station said.
KTVA reported that authorities responded to the airport about 3 a.m. because of the incident.
"There was a subject on the aircraft that had barricaded or locked himself in the bathroom, the lavatory," Airport Police and Fire Sgt. Darcey Perry said, per KTVA. "Flight attendants did find that the subject was naked."
Kate Danyluk, a teacher from Anchorage, told The Associated Press that she knew something was wrong because the flight attendants kept going back and forth in the aisles wearing rubber gloves.
The news agency said 178 passengers were on the original flight and finally took off for Seattle after 6:30 a.m.
Alaska Airlines spokesman Tim Thompson confirmed to KTVA that Flight 146's was delayed, saying in an email that the plane turned around "due to a passenger not following flight attendants' instructions."
"While no emergency was declared, pilots made the decision to return to Anchorage," Thompson wrote, per KTVA. "Flight 146 arrived at Anchorage International around 2:45 a.m. and was met by law enforcement officers at the gate. The passenger was escorted off the flight by officers."
Perry told KTVA that FBI agents who arrived at the scene interviewed the naked passenger but it was not known if the man was arrested. The flight crew and other passengers who witnessed part of the incident were also interviewed by authorities, per the television station.
U.S. Attorney spokeswoman Chloe Martin told KTVA that no charges had been filed against the passenger as of Wednesday afternoon.
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