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The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 3:34 p.m., Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Unruly passenger diverts Honolulu-bound flight

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO — A Honolulu-bound Delta Air Lines Inc. jet was diverted to San Francisco today when a female passenger became unruly after smoking in the lavatory, a federal official said.

Delta Flight 511 originated in Cincinnati and was supposed to fly nonstop to Honolulu. But a fellow passenger calling from the San Francisco International Airport tarmac after the Boeing 767 landed said a woman passenger had "a complete meltdown freakout" over the Pacific Ocean.

The witness, Elizabeth Oglesby of Atlanta, said that the woman hit a pilot in the chest after he left the cockpit to check on her.

"She appeared to be out of her mind. Upset. Belligerent," Oglesby said. "He threatened to handcuff her if she didn't calm down. At that point she hit him in the chest."

A Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman didn't have the passenger's name, but said she was taken to the hospital.