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Passengers terrified after man’s outburst during flight to SLC

Posted at 9:28 PM, Apr 16, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-16 23:29:22-04

SALT LAKE CITY – A flight from Denver to Salt Lake City took a terrifying turn Sunday when a passenger stood up and started yelling.

United flight 570 was on the tarmac in Denver late Sunday night. The aircraft was nearing takeoff when the man started yelling.

“I thought the same thing as 9-11, that we’re just not going to make it. It was just scary and I started to cry,” said Tara Kraatz of Herriman. She was about fifteen rows behind the man who started yelling.

“He climbed over the back of his seat, started striking the passenger behind him. He then shouted out in a foreign language bomba, bomba,” said another passenger who asked only to be identified by his first name, Steve.

“All hell broke loose really,” said Steve.

“Just a moment of panic that something was going to happen and we weren’t going to make it,” said Kraatz.

After the outburst, the man calmed down and remained in his seat with flight attendants standing by his side. The plane returned to the terminal and the man left, escorted out by a fellow passenger.

United Airlines released the following statement on the incident:

“Flight 570 from Denver to Salt Lake City returned to the gate after a customer attempted to open the exit door. Law enforcement officials met the flight which re-departed for Salt Lake City on a different aircraft.”
-Andrea Hiller,
Spokesperson,
United Airlines

The man who caused the outburst has not been identified. Nor have any charges been announced.