""Walked with tefillin, barefoot, harassed": Passenger rioted and flight from the US landed in Greece

December 13, 2021   

An American Airlines flight from the US to Israel made an emergency landing in Greece this evening (Monday) due to an Israeli passenger's riot on the flight. On board the plane are Haredi passengers along with Chabad followers who returned from a trip to the Lubavitcher Rebbe's mission. One of the passengers described in a conversation with COL what happened during the flight: "There was a crazy passenger walking around the plane who, throughout the entire flight, starting from takeoff in New York, behaved abnormally. "The same passenger, because of whom we were all delayed, was walking around the plane sleepwalking, wearing some kind of tank top and head tefillin, but no hand tefillin. He was walking around barefoot, without socks, and harassing people." Due to the passenger's unrest, the plane's captain decided to disembark him in Athens and complete the flight without him. Indeed, the plane turned around and made an emergency landing. The plane, a Boeing 777, remained on the ground for about two hours until the passenger and his luggage were disembarked. American Airlines said: "American Airlines Flight 146 to Tel Aviv was forced to land in Athens and disembark an Israeli passenger who did not obey the safety instructions of the flight crew. The passenger was disembarked in Athens and the plane took off on its way to Tel Aviv. The company thanks the flight crew for the professional management of the incident and apologizes to the passengers for the inconvenience caused to them.".