“UA20 from Houston to Amsterdam jettisoning fuel prior to diversion to Chicago due to an unruly passenger,” said the website.
United Airlines communication to ground reported a disruptive passenger in seat 11G in the business class cabin, “threat level one”.
Airlines watchdog JonNYC, who shared a screenshot of the memo, explained “threat level one″ was the lowest level of disruptive passenger emergency.
“But, to my way of thinking, this person had to be exceedingly disruptive for them to have handled it this way,” he tweeted.
The plane performed a “gas and go” to offload the passenger and take on lost fuel for the journey on to the Netherlands.
United did not confirm if the disruption was related to catering.
In a statement, the airline confirmed that the incident was related to a disruptive passenger and was dealt with without further disruption.
“United flight 20 from George Bush Intercontinental Airport to Amsterdam diverted to O’Hare International Airport and landed safely following a passenger disturbance. Law enforcement met the aircraft at the gate and escorted the passenger off the plane. The aircraft then continued to Amsterdam,” a spokesperson told the Guardian.
Later, there was an update with the account of a 1K passenger who said that the disruption was over the meal service offered to the unruly passenger.
“The passenger in question was livid over the fact his first choice of meal was not available,” said aviation commentator JonNYC.
“Obviously the passenger was noted to be intoxicated as well, but meal choice seems to have been an enragement point.”
Other passengers claiming to have been on the disrupted flight said they were aware of the passenger and heard them being “verbally abusive” to the crew.
According to flight tracking, the service landed just after 12.30pm local time, adding three hours to the service, which is normally nine and a half hours.
