'Scared' passengers tell how their flight was forced to land when three men started 'acting suspiciously' by swapping seats

  • Flight headed to LAX from Indianapolis diverted to Kansas City on Sunday
  • Airline said the three men did not follow the crew's instructions during takeoff and continued to display 'suspicious behavior' during flight
  • Passenger Stacey Lee said they had gotten up and swapped seats in the last row of plane while flight attendants were giving pre-takeoff instructions
  • The men were escorted off the plane and questioned by FBI before they were booked on later flights 

By Anneta Konstantinides For Dailymail.com

Published: 00:00 EST, 23 November 2015 | Updated: 03:26 EST, 23 November 2015

Passengers on a Southwest Airlines flight that diverted after three people allegedly displayed suspicious behavior said they were scared and that it was a 'rough experience'. 

The flight headed to Los Angeles International Airport from Indianapolis diverted to Kansas City around 7.50am on Sunday morning. 

Stacey Lee said nobody on the plane knew details of what was happening or 'what was going on' when their flight took a detour. 

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A Southwest Airlines (pictured) flight from Indianapolis to Los Angeles International Airport was diverted Sunday morning to Kansas City after three people allegedly displayed suspicious behavior during the flight 

A Southwest Airlines (pictured) flight from Indianapolis to Los Angeles International Airport was diverted Sunday morning to Kansas City after three people allegedly displayed suspicious behavior during the flight 

'The moment we landed in Kansas City though we were well aware something else was occurring,' she told ABC News. 

Pictured is cell phone footage of one of the three men being escorted off the plane by police 

Pictured is cell phone footage of one of the three men being escorted off the plane by police 

The flight crew said the plane was diverted after three men did not follow the crew's instructions during takeoff and continued to display 'suspicious behavior' during the flight, according to a statement from the airline. 

Lee said the men were sitting in the last row of the plane and had gotten out of their seats to swap with each other as flight attendants were making their pre-flight announcements. 

'That was something that created an issue,' she said. 

Police escorted the three men off the plane and they were later questioned by the FBI as K9 units were brought in to inspect the plane. All baggage was also re-screened. 

The passengers were deplaned and allowed to re-board nearly two hours later. No charges were filed.

The three men were allowed to continue on later flights after they were questioned. 

Passenger Nadia Banks said she found the whole experience frightening. 

'I was really scared,' she said. 'I didn't know what was happening.' 

Sunday's incident was the third just this week that has involved allegations against passengers on Southwest planes. 

On Wednesday two Palestinian men were briefly stopped from boarding a flight to Philadelphia from Chicago's Midway International Airport after a traveler overheard them speaking Arabic. 

A gate agent told Maher Khalil and Anas Ayyad that they could not board the flight because a passenger was afraid to fly after hearing them speak Arabic.    

Khalil told the agent: 'If that person doesn't feel safe, let them take the bus. We're American citizens just like everybody else.'

Passenger Nadia Banks said she found the whole experience frightening. 'I was really scared,' she said. 'I didn't know what was happening'
Stacey Lee said nobody on the plane knew details of what was happening or 'what was going on' when their flight took a detour

Passengers Emily Lee (right) and Nadia Banks (left) said they knew little information when the plane was being diverted and found the experience to be 'scary' and 'rough' 

The passengers were deplaned and K9 units were brought on to inspect the aircraft 

The passengers were deplaned and K9 units were brought on to inspect the aircraft 

Khalil, 29 and Ayyad, 28, called 911 to get police to help and the two men were later allowed to board. 

On the same day another Southwest flight from Chicago to Houston was delayed after six Muslim passengers were removed from the plane. 

The airline said in a statement obtained by Gawker that the passengers had refused to follow the crew's instructions. 

'Reports indicate that the situation involved seating arrangements and repeated attempts from those passengers involved to save seats and rearrange other passengers onboard the aircraft,' read the statement. 

'Our crews were unable to resolve the situation without delaying the flight so we rebooked the customers on a later flight that same day.' 

 

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